The new ICES advice on Northeast Atlantic mackerel is a brutal wake-up call. From 576,958 tonnes in 2025, the advised catch for 2026 is reduced to just 174,357 tonnes – a staggering 70% decrease. This is not a natural disaster. It is the direct result of reckless political choices and years of overfishing.
For more than a decade, nations have set unilateral quotas far above scientific advice – on average 39% higher since 2010. The outcome is clear: the stock is now below its safe biological limits, and spawning biomass is too low to sustain healthy recruitment.
Related: ICES Slashes Mackerel Catch by 70%: Stock Below Safe Limits
The truth is inconvenient, but it must be told. Overfishing is not an accident; it is a deliberate decision. EU, Norway, Iceland, the UK and the Faroe Islands have all played the same short-term game: take more now, worry later.
Later has arrived!
Hiding behind phrases like “low recruitment” is a form of self-deception. The core problem is simple: too many fish have been taken out of the sea, year after year.
The choice ahead is stark. Either we treat the 2026 quota cut not as a punishment, but as an investment in the future, or we let the greed for quick money push the mackerel into a more profound crisis.
Future generations will judge us on this. If we keep looting the sea today, it will be our children who pay the price tomorrow – with empty oceans and lost livelihoods.
Reject the quick fix. Accept the cuts. Protect the stock. Common sense must prevail.