The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has downgraded mackerel from its list of fish suitable to eat.

The society says that international arguments about quotas mean it is no longer a sustainable choice.

It says that mackerel should now be eaten only occasionally and consumers should instead eat herrings or sardines.

That sucks. Mackerel is my favourite fish by a long margin. Although herrings and sardines are from the same family, they have absolutely no taste by comparison.

I have noticed that it's been very difficult to buy decent ones over the last few years. The last ones I ate were caught with a line off the Scottish coast last July, and eaten an hour later for breakfast. There didn't seem to be a shortage of them just there, but I guess it's patchy and we didn't catch anything big.