North Atlantic mackerel quotas face steep cuts, retail giants turn to alternatives

"The warning red light has fully flashed," commented the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research. The institute's population researcher Are Salthaug pointed out that the population decline follows a clear downward curve, shrinking from nearly 13 million tons of spawning population in 2014 to the current 2.7 million tons, significantly falling below the "critical survival capacity" threshold of 3 million tons. Research director Geir Huse emphasized, "The situation is very serious, and it is crucial to reverse the trend now, which requires a significant reduction in fishing intensity." The report clearly states that due to the inability of countries along the Northeast Atlantic (including the EU, UK, Norway, Iceland, etc.) to reach a long-term agreement on quota distribution over the years, the total catch volume set by all parties has consistently far exceeded the scientific recommendations of ICES, leading to a "tragedy of the commons." Meanwhile, mackerel has faced low juvenile ...