23 April 2026
BLOOM and a coalition of NGOs call on European supermarkets to address the critical state of mackerel
23 April 2026
On Friday 17 April, BLOOM, the Blue Marine Foundation, Oceana Europe and The North Sea Foundation called on 24 retailers across five European countries to raise their standards for sustainable fishing and, in particular, to suspend their purchases of North-East Atlantic mackerel. This comes in response to a disastrous policy decision by European fisheries ministers regarding the future of the North-East Atlantic mackerel population, which is a stock now considered as collapsed by scientists at Ifremer, and also in light of the exemplary commitment already enacted by several UK retailers.
The European Union’s dangerous management of mackerel
Despite unequivocal scientific recommendations calling for a 70% reduction in North-East Atlantic mackerel catches by 2026, due to proven overfishing, the European Union decided on 30 March to increase its quotas for the species[1]. This is an irresponsible decision that directly jeopardises the stock’s ability to recover.
Since 2010, the EU and other coastal states (Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom) have consistently ignored scientific advice on fishing quotas. Year after year, fruitless negotiations due to self-serving parties prioritising only their own interests have resulted in agreements that ignore the warnings of experts and exacerbate the overfishing of fish stocks. This is despite the fact that over the last six years the European Union has failed to meet its target, as set out in the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), of having 100% of fish stocks in good ecological status by 2020.
European fisheries ministers are thus perpetuating a policy incompatible with true “sustainable fishing” as redefined by some thirty scientists in 2024. Among the 11 golden rules they established, there is a clear indication that sustainable fishing scrupulously adheres to scientists’ recommendations and is carried out on a healthy fish population.
Faced with the EU’s irresponsibility, major retailers needed to step up
Whilst governments have failed to grasp the scale of the ongoing collapse, retailers have been taking action since February 2026.
On 26 February, the British retail chain Waitrose became the first retailer to announce the effective suspension of all sales and supplies of North-East Atlantic mackerel by 29 April 2026, whether branded, own-brand products, fresh, chilled or frozen[2]. Canned mackerel, meanwhile, will be sold off while current stocks last. Since this announcement, Co-op, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco have taken similar measures[3].
Against this backdrop, on Friday 17 April, BLOOM, together with the Blue Marine Foundation, Oceana and The North Sea Foundation, contacted 24 retailers[4] in France, Spain, Belgium, Italy and in Germany to alert them to the critical state of this fish population and to inquire about the actions they have taken or will take in response to this crisis, particularly in light of those taken by their British competitors.
>>> read the letter sent to supermarkets <<<
Retailers have already shown they can take action
In July 2024, a year after our initial concerns regarding the unsustainability of its tuna supplies, Carrefour announced the suspension of its supplies of overfished tuna from the Indian Ocean. More recently, in January 2026, and again following our warnings, Biocoop removed all products containing yellowfin tuna and bigeye tuna from its shelves.
“When taken collectively, these decisions have a very tangible impact on the fishing sector by reducing market opportunities for industrial operators. This discourages them from exploiting stocks in poor condition and exceeding their allocated quotas, and it signals to policymakers that they have the support of key economic players in reducing quotas. We expect concrete action from supermarkets to promote sustainable fishing,” explains Manon Anneau, Sustainable Fishing Project Officer at BLOOM.
NOTES:
[1] https://bloomassociation.org/maquereau-lunion-europeenne-choisit-la-surpeche-contre-la-science/ (news update available in French only)
[2] https://www.johnlewispartnership.co.uk/media-centre/latest-news/2026/23865
[4] Carrefour France, Carrefour Spain, Carrefour Belgium, Coopérative U, Les Mousquetaires, Lidl France, Lidl Spain, Lidl Italy, Lidl Germany, Metro France, Metro AG, Auchan, Alcampo, Aldi France, Aldi Nord, Aldi Süd, Esselunga, Group Casino, Monoprix, Coop ITALIA, Mercadona, Conad, E.Leclerc, Louis Delhaize