UK among nations condemned for ‘epic’ mackerel overfishing disaster

Seafood companies and retailers threaten to boycott north-east Atlantic catch after two-decade failure to agree sustainable quotas

A coalition of British seafood companies and retailers, including Young's, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Aldi and Waitrose, has condemned the collective failure" of the UK, Norway and other states to reach agreement on the sustainable fishing of mackerel in the north-east Atlantic.

Lack of political agreement over a decade has led to an overfishing disaster of potentially epic proportions", conservationists say, leading to 44% more fish being caught than is sustainable.