Atlantic mackerel are caught in vast numbers by purse seine and trawl fisheries. Their welfare during capture and at slaughter receives almost no regulatory attention despite clear evidence of fish sentience.
Atlantic mackerel welfare in industrial capture fisheries represents one of the largest-scale welfare issues in global food production. The combination of billions of individuals caught annually and the near-complete absence of welfare-considered slaughter practices means aggregate suffering is enormous. Pump harvesting from purse seines causes physical crushing injury as fish pass through suction pipes. Fish that reach the hold alive die slowly from asphyxiation and crowding — a prolonged dying process that extends over many minutes. Carbon dioxide narcosis or electrical stunning prior to hold transfer could reduce this suffering but is not standard practice. Recreational mackerel fishing using hand lines produces more rapid death through immediate icing or brain spiking, and causes far fewer individuals to suffer simultaneously. The scale disparity between commercial and recreational mackerel welfare is striking — improving even one element of commercial slaughter practice would benefit more individuals than all recreational fishing welfare improvements combined.