The mackerel summer season in Norway was off to a slow start at the end of May. Usually, this fishery starts sometime in early June, but fishers reported sightings of mackerel earlier this year. Early landings indicate that the season will be an average one, perhaps with a somewhat smaller volumes landed than last year. On the bright side, mackerel prices are slightly higher this year. Much depends on the weather, with warmer temperatures likely to bring improved landings.

Canadian environmentalists are criticizing the authorities for setting an overly high quota for Atlantic mackerel this year. According to the Ecology Action Center in Nova Scotia, the mackerel biomass is critically low. The quota has been set at 8 000 tonnes, while the advice by a panel of scientists was just 800 tonnes for both 2014 and 2015.

After two years of efforts by the UK Mackerel Industry Northern Sustainability Alliance (MINSA), the northeast mackerel fishery was granted MSC certification in May. According to MINSA, the mackerel stock is in good shape, and the MSC certification will help promote this resource to the consumers.

Supplies of the main species such as mackerel and herring will be somewhat tighter this year. Thus, one can expect prices to increase in general, although this will inevitably also depend on the development of currency exchange rates.