Atlantic mackerel are among the most consumed wild-caught fish globally. Their welfare during capture — including suffocation, crushing, and handling — raises important ethical questions about one of fishing's most intensive practices.
Wild mackerel capture involves welfare harm at the point of death that is rarely acknowledged by consumers. Purse seine capture crowds thousands of fish into a confined space, causing acute stress and physical injury from crushing before death by suffocation on deck. The scale of this welfare harm — hundreds of millions of fish annually in the North Atlantic fishery — makes it one of the largest sources of fish suffering associated with any single food product. On-board electrical stunning, now implemented by some Norwegian and Scottish producers, provides rapid insensibilisation before the fish reach deck — a meaningful improvement on standard practice. Consumer awareness of this welfare dimension is almost zero: mackerel is widely marketed as "sustainable" and "healthy" without any welfare qualification. The sustainability of a fishery and the welfare of fish during harvest are independent considerations, and both deserve attention.