In December 2025, European fisheries ministers agreed to a drastic reduction in mackerel catches for 2026, following the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea's (ICES) recommendation to lower quotas by 70% for the Northeast Atlantic stock due to overexploitation. On February 16, 2026, the Minister of the Sea and Fisheries, Catherine Chabaud, announced a daily recreational fishing quota of five mackerel per person, a measure that has drawn immediate criticism from amateur anglers, particularly in Normandy. Politicians, including LR deputy Philippe Gosselin and PS senator Sébastien Fagnen, have written to the minister, arguing the quota is disproportionate and does not reflect daily practices, potentially harming amateur fishing activities and local economies. They advocate for a more balanced quota of ten to fifteen mackerel per angler and call for a focus on combating illegal fishing, suggesting that industrial fleets, particularly those from Northern countries, are primarily responsible for overfishing, which has depleted the mackerel biomass from 13 million to 3 million tonnes over the past decade.