Waitrose to suspend mackerel sales due to overfishing concerns

Waitrose is to suspend sales of mackerel products due to concerns about overfishing.

The supermarket said it would stop sourcing fresh, chilled and frozen mackerel by 29 April, as well as tinned mackerel once their current stocks have been sold.

Marine groups have recommended a cut in the amount of North East Atlantic mackerel being caught to prevent a collapse in population numbers.

Waitrose said it was the first UK supermarket to suspend mackerel sales, adding it would only start selling the fish againonce it met their "high sourcing standards".

The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES), which gives scientific advice on sustainable fishing, said that in recent years, mackerel has been overfished due to a lack of international quota agreements. As a result there is not a high enough rate of breeding to replace the volume being caught.

More mackerel is caught in British waters than any other fish – in 2024 UK vessels landed more than 230,000 tonnes of the species.

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.

The grocery chain, which sources all its mackerel from Scottish waters, said that from May 2026, North East Atlantic mackerel would no longer meet the supermarket's own responsible sourcing requirements.

Jake Pickering, head of agriculture, aquaculture and fisheries at Waitrose, said: "By suspending sourcing of mackerel at Waitrose, we are reinforcing our ethical and sustainable business commitments, acting to tackle overfishing and protect the long-term health of our oceans and this crucial fish."

Waitrose, which is owned by the John Lewis Partnership, said it would replace its mackerel products with "responsibly sourced" alternatives in order to "make a stand against overfishing and support long-term health and sustainability of fish stocks".

All of the new products are Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certified.

Conservation and sustainability groups have welcomed the announcement and called for other supermarkets to follow suit.

The Marine Conservation Society said Waitrose's decision was "leading and decisive".

Kerry Lyne, its 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."

Charles Clover, co-founder of conservation charity Blue Marine Foundation, said overfishing was a "crisis" that has been "ignored for too long".

"We hope that this action by Waitrose sends it to the top of the political agenda," he said.

Most of the UK's mackerel fishing is based in Scotland, and the industry there has responded to Waitrose's move with dismay.

Ian Gatt of the Scottish Pelagic Fishermen's Association criticised the timing of the announcement, saying progress was being made in quota-sharing negotiations between countries.

Additional reporting by Helen Briggs