The EU fishing sector has been quick with its critical response to the decision by several fish consumption guides in the EU, run by environmental NGOs such as GoodFish and WWF, to warn consumers away from North-east Atlantic mackerel.
‘Nobody understands and share the major concerns about mackerel’s declining biomass more than we do, but by ‘red-listing’ now, fish guides deviate from current scientific advice which puts the stock above the precautionary management trigger point,’ an industry representative stated.
‘If buyers and retailers follow the advice of the NGO’s, this will still not improve the chances of successful Coastal States negotiations. What it will do is deal a major blow to the last fleet that is showing restraint and responsibility in this fishery: the EU fleet.’
According to European industry bodies Europêche and EAPO, management of the mackerel stock has been compromised by the lack of a quota distribution key between the Coastal States involved – the EU, UK, Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland and Russia – since the last such agreement expired after 2018.
The EU industry has consistently urged all Coastal States to reach a comprehensive sharing arrangement that reflects genuine, sustainable track records and interests, while also calling for action against the continuous setting (and fishing) of excessive, artificially increased (by up to 55%) unilateral quotas by parties other than the EU.
‘These inflated claims are based on alleged changing migration patterns and geographic distribution of the stock; scientists dealing with the subject have stated there is insufficient data for conclusions to be drawn. The EU is now the only party that still exercises caution by adhering to the most recent distribution key,’ the industry states.
‘Alarm bells have been ringing for mackerel for some time. As an industry, we do believe that solutions can be found before the buyers’ deadline of May 2026. We will try to contribute to that process together with our counterparts from the other Coastal States, while remaining committed to responsible fishing,’ said PFA VP Tim Heddema, speaking for the EU pelagic fishing industry.
‘In the meantime, we strongly urge retailers to maintain a procurement policy based on scientific stock status and not on the arbitrary opinion of a partisan NGO, which seems to have randomly decided that negotiations have dragged on long enough.’
The EU industry’s position is that the mackerel stock has been highly resilient in the face of what it terms an ‘onslaught’ by Norway and the Faroe Islands. The ICES2 advice for 2025 not only put forward a still substantial catch limit of 576,958 tonnes, but this also indicates that despite years of fishing over the recommended quota, the stock is not considered overfished.
‘Biomass is still within safe biological limits, as it sits above the levels that should trigger precautionary or emergency measures. Unfortunately, the NGO fish guides fail to consider the actual biological status of the stock. If they did, the appropriate ‘colour’ of their sustainability advice would remain yellow/orange,’ Tim Heddema said, commenting that the impact of a red-listed mackerel fishery will be felt by precisely those fishers who are least to blame for the current situation.
‘The EU industry calls on the NGOs in question to reverse the downgrades. We also call on buyers and retailers to take into account the scientific advice and the different approaches to the fishery between the EU and others,’ he commented.
‘Finally, the industry expects those buyers and retailers that are members of NAPA3 to keep their commitment in the context of the Fishery Improvement Programme (FIP) for mackerel, which has set a deadline for the Coastal States negotiators to reach agreement before May 2026 – if they don’t, mackerel sourcing will cease.’
