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Fish4Life provides everything you need to enjoy seafood responsibly. Explore information and practical tips for safe and sustainable seafood consumption, and help protect marine life by reporting undersized or illegally traded seafood.

Atlantic mackerel
Scomber scombrus
Σκουμπρί

Sustainability Status

Legal size is significantly smaller

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Help us protect our seas by reporting illegal or undersized fish that you see in markets, restaurants or fishing boats
Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation
Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Legal

Minimum Size

18 cm

Prohibited Consumption Period

–

Sustainable

Minimum Size

29 cm

Avoid Consumption Period

March – May

Advice for Consumption

Think before consuming this species.

Greek legislation sets an unsustainably small legal minimum size and no closed season, leaving juvenile and spawning fish completely unprotected. Always respect minimum sustainable size limits and do not consume this species during its breeding season.

Choose sustainable seafood!

Archipelagos Tips

Choosing larger, mature fish helps reduce fishing pressure on juvenile individuals.

Common names

FR

Maquereau

it

Sgombro

es

Caballa

tr

Uskumru

pt

Sarda

nl

Gewone makreel

de

Atlantische Makrele

toxicity

This species is safe to consume.

iucn info

Least concern (LC)

Description

Elongated and fusiform bodyshape, with a cross-section that is oval. It has a bright bluish-green on the back with transverse black stripes, and silvery-white on the belly and lower flanks. There are no well developed corselet, the interpelvic process small and single. Its anal fin spine are conspicuous, with its origin opposite that of second dorsal fin, also joined to the fin by a membrane but clearly independent of it. It has no swim bladder and the first haemal spine anterior to first interneural process.

It looks like Scomber colias (Spanish mackerel), they are similar in body shape to the Scomber scombrus, but with a wider space between the dorsal fins and spots on its sides and belly.

Did you know?

Larger females can lay around 2 million eggs, which they release in batches between 5 and 7 times during a spawning season!

Ecological Aspects

Diet

Omnivorous.
Feeds on zooplankton and small fish.

habitat

Pelagic.
Forms large schools near the surface.

Max size & depth range

Max length: 60 cm
Max weight: 34 kg
Depth range: 0-1000 m (usually 0-200 m)

breeding & Growth

Gonochoric (seperate sexes). Batch spawner, spawns between March and April in the Mediterranean.

Longevity & presence

Lifespan: 15-20 years
Max reported age: 25 years
Distribution: Mediterranean and North Atlantic.

appearance changes

Under stress (such as high-density crowding in nets), their dorsal coloration rapidly changes from its typical green to a predominantly blue hue, often accompanied by a whitening of the body due to adrenaline release.

Reproductive Cycle

Egg count: 200,000 to 450,000 eggs
Reproduction frequency: Roughly 20 batch releases per spawning season.
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If you’d like to learn more about the work of the Archipelagos Institute of Marine Conservation, please visit our website: https://archipelago.gr/

Good choice – Consumption of this species is currently considered sustainable

Illegal species – Fishing, selling and consumption of this species is illegal

Fishstocks – Declining due to overexploitation

Think before you eat – This species faces increasing pressures and should only be consumed responsibly

Bad choice – Consumption of this species is unsustainable

Health concerns –
Can accumulate dangerously high levels of toxic substances harmful to health

Alien / Invasive – This species is not from this region and can have a negative impact on the ecosystem and threaten local biodiversity, so it is sustainable to eat

Aquafarms – You will commonly find this species coming from aquafarms