The British supermarket firm, Waitrose, has become the first supermarket chain in the UK to suspend the sale of mackerel citing overfishing. They have said they will point consumers towards herring, sardines and seabass instead.

Concerns over mackerel stocks have been rumbling since last year, and environmental groups and NGOs have welcomed Waitrose’s decision.  In April 2025, the Marine Conservation Society (MSC) issued a warning that stocks were near “breaking point” due to overfishing by countries like the UK and Norway.

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which gives scientific advice on sustainable fishing, said that overfishing of mackerel had occurred due to a lack of international quota agreements. This had meant breeding rates were not high enough to replace the volume being caught.

Since 2009, Mackerel total catch limits (TACs) have consistently exceeded scientifically recommended levels, by between 5% and 80%. And between 2020 and 2024, TACs were on average 39% higher than the scientific advice.

Daisy Brickhill, communications director from international ocean advocacy group Oceana told us: “It is incredibly encouraging to see a supermarket like Waitrose make a stand in helping to safeguard UK seas. Because our fish populations cannot take much more.”

She added: “Just a few months ago, scientists recommended we slash cod catches to zero to prevent total collapse. Then came mackerel, where experts recommended a stark reduction of 70%. These figures are not issued lightly, they are drastic because the situation is drastic, because our seas and coastal communities are at risk.”

In December, the UK, Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland agreed to cut mackerel catches by 48%, but Waitrose said this did not go far enough. 

Waitrose’s announcement comes in the wake of a study from the University of East Anglia last month, which found millions of Britons could be ready to try sustainable, locally-sourced – but less widely eaten – fish like sardines, sprat and anchovies. 

Kerry Lyne, the Marine Conservation Society’s Good Fish Guide manager, said: “To keep favourites like mackerel on the menu, we need support right across the supply chain with fishing kept within sustainable limits.”

Waitrose have said they will continue to monitor the mackerel fishery.

“The plight of the mackerel is part of a wider failure to take scientific advice intended to keep stocks healthy and able to recover from fishing pressure,” Charles Clover, co-founder of conservation charity Blue Marine Foundation said. 

Brickhill said: “Our government continues to ignore these warnings, continues to set catch limits too high, and fails to create a clear strategy. It is great to see Waitrose step up – but they cannot and should not be expected to act alone.”

Click here for more from the Oceanographic newsroom