Mackerel has long been held up as one of the UK’s most sustainable seafood choices. But from today, fresh, chilled and frozen mackerel has disappeared from Waitrose shelves, after the supermarket said fishing levels were too high to justify continued sales.
The move comes as conservation groups warn that other staples are also under pressure. Earlier this month, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) downgraded UK-caught cod to its lowest sustainability rating, citing falling populations.
If you’re feeling at a loss about what fish you can eat sustainably, you’re not alone.
The challenge of eating fish today
Tristan Hegarty, 43, has only recently started to incorporate animal products into his diet, after a decade of avoiding them for environmental and ethical reasons.
Like many, Hegarty didn’t want to buy farmed fish, vaguely knew he should avoid cod, and had heard “somewhere” that mackerel was a more sustainable option, so he opted for that. Then his wife informed him Waitrose are suspending sales of mackerel for sustainability reasons.
“I’m angry with the state of the fishing industry and that it’s very difficult to eat well and choose good options without compromising some ecosystem somewhere,” he says.
Mackerel: from poster child to problem species
By all accounts, mackerel should be a sustainable choice: mackerel breed quickly and are caught with relatively low fuel and low bycatch. It’s a small oily fish, that’s well-suited to preservation including canning and smoking as well as being frozen whole.
Indeed, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s ‘Fish Fight’ campaign urged us to replace cod with a much more sustainable mackerel bap, but that was 15 years ago.
Now the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) has said there is not a high enough rate of breeding to replace the volume of mackerel being caught.
Scientists advised steep cuts to mackerel catches, but governments agreed to significantly smaller reductions. Waitrose said this didn’t go far enough and announced they were suspending sales of mackerel by the end of April.
It’s a move that has been celebrated by environmental campaigners, and one that other supermarkets are also considering. Yet, not everyone is in agreement.
Can fish be meaningfully rated?
Charles Redfern, managing director of Fish4Ever, argues that a blanket ban is unfair. His company continues to sell Scottish mackerel, which he says has stayed within quota limits.
“We now have a situation where mackerel from boats that are no bigger than rowing boats near St Ives are red-rated by the MCS, but jack mackerel from a boat in Chile that can catch and process 6000 tonnes, which is more than ten times the whole UK artisanal catch, is green-rated,” he says. “The rating system misrepresents sustainability.”
Waitrose is replacing mackerel with wild herring and sardines, both MSC blue-tick certified, and farmed seabass and trout with ASC and RSPCA assured certificates, respectively. Questions around whether these are truly better alternatives remain from both a certification and species perspective.
“I suppose it depends what level of scrutiny and environmental impact you’re looking for. Many people will be looking for something far superior in terms of traceability and the impact on the environment,” says Caroline Bennett, founder of ethical online fishmonger Sole of Discretion.
Bennett explains: “Herring isn’t a straightforward substitute, some stocks are also under pressure, making it a more complicated choice than it first appears. Like mackerel, sardines tick many of the boxes for sustainable seafood on paper as they’re fast-growing, abundant and relatively efficient to catch. But, in reality, fluctuating stocks and fishing pressure mean they are far from risk-free.
“Farmed seabass raises many of the same concerns as salmon farming, from feed inputs to local environmental impacts. Farmed trout may be slightly better in some cases, particularly where systems are more contained, but it’s not impact-free.”
She insists: “As always, it’s not just what you’re fishing, it’s how you’re fishing. It really matters.”
From ocean to plate: the hidden reality
Trying to unpick where our seafood comes from gets incredibly complex, very quickly. It’s little wonder conscious consumers like Hegarty are confused.
Sole of Discretion labels every fish it sells with the name of the boat, skipper and method of capture, but this level of transparency is almost unheard of in fishing.
Today, around 80% of fish eaten in the UK is imported, and globally the industry is dominated by large-scale fleets, which account for the majority of catches and receive most subsidies. The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) also reports “the sector is becoming increasingly vulnerable to food fraud”, with one in five fish being caught illegally or going unreported.
Even in the UK, the fishing industry is overwhelmingly dominated by a handful of industrial players. Although almost 80% of fishing boats are under 10 metres in length, they account for just 4% of landings.
“The UK Government is allowing fishing pressure to build relentlessly as the largest industrial vessels squeeze out the small local boats. Today we are seeing the consequences of those actions – stocks of iconic fish like mackerel and cod are in free fall. In fact, 58% of key fishing catch limits for 2026 were unsustainable, putting our fish populations on course for collapse and emptying our seas,” says Izzy Ross, Fisheries Campaign Manager for Oceana UK.
With 90% of fish stocks fully- or over-exploited, the idea that there is a simple ‘good fish’ choice is becoming harder to defend.
Finding a way forward
Oceana are calling for the government to create a strategy to end overfishing. “It should be built on justice and backed by fact,” says Ross. “Our seas are a public resource, not just for the accumulation of wealth for the very few.”
In future, Hegarty says he will do more research to ensure his seafood choices truly align with his values. “If not, I’m prepared to not eat fish and will look into supplements,” he says.
Feeling powerless is understandable. But, at a recent discussion with chef Peter Weeden and seafood expert Jack Clarke, hosted at The Duke Organic, the consensus was clear: sustainability is rarely black and white but there are meaningful choices individuals can make.
Clarke, who has worked in fish sustainability for 15 years, recommends reconsidering how we use our purchasing power: “Think about what you want to sustain and who you want to support rather than what you want to boycott. If you buy a product from someone you believe is doing the right thing, your money goes directly to supporting that person, that orgnaisation and that system.”
Of course, it’s not always as simple as buying from a fishmonger rather than a supermarket, which is why Weeden recommends reclaiming our curiosity rather than opting out.
He says: “I think a very good job has been done over the last 50 years to detach us from food production, but we shouldn’t be afraid to ask where something is from and how it was caught. Whether I’m serving in the restaurant or sitting around a table with my family, I want to know my food supports the environment and communities it was sourced from and nourishes those eating it.”
If asking questions feels daunting, a good place to start are ethical fish box schemes like Sole of Discretion and SoleShare, who deliver fresh or frozen fish across the country. When it comes to canned fish, Fish4Ever has transparent supply chains and highly considered sourcing policies.
And if you really insist on having the easy answer to a sustainable seafood species then opt for mussels. They are typically farmed in low-impact systems and are filter feeders that don’t require fertiliser or antibiotics and can improve water quality as they grow.
Of course, this could change if increased demand leads to industrial production scaling in ways that could damage local marine ecosystems. Which is why it’s not just about the species, we must also consider the method of catch or production – and our consumption.
Join Oceana’s calls to end overfishing, by writing to Keir Starmer and your local MP in just a few clicks here.
Many more marine conservation zones wouldn’t hurt.
What is the point of removing mackerel products from Waitrose shelves? At least honour the fish by allowing them to be eaten. Thereafter stock no more if that is their policy.