Misconduct in Mass
Must we abstain from meat on Fridays? Simply, no:
Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. [Canon MCCLI]
It is not necessary to abstain from meat, but abstinence from some other food is indeed necessary, otherwise, it is a sin, because it is a violation of canon law. Though it is not necessary to abstain from meat, it is best for the sake of it being a tradition. Moreover, I see it fit for fasting to be practiced every Friday, for Christ died on Friday, and this is commanded to us in the Didache, an orthopraxical and didactical work composed anywhere from the mid. 1st c. to the mid 2nd c., which is called the "teaching of the apostles."