Saving Seafood

Carryover frozen halibut brews competition in Alaska

June 20, 2018 — As the fleet fished on a halibut quota of 16.63 million pounds, dockside offers ranged from $4.25 to $5.50 per pound for fish 20 pounds and under to 40 pounds and up. That’s down significantly from the 2017 spread of $6.40 to $6.90 per pound when the fleet fished on a quota of 18.3 million pounds.

This year’s pricing trend flies in the face of market dynamics of years past, when diminished supplies translated to higher prices all the way through the distribution chain.

Whether the volume of supplies and price point have reached the equilibrium of what consumers will pay for a slice of halibut on their plates remains to be seen. In the meantime, Bob Alverson, manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association in Seattle, noted that processors have reported carryover inventories of frozen Pacific halibut from 2017 are competing with volumes of fresh Atlantic halibut funneling into markets along the East Coast.

The fall in ex-vessel prices for blackcod tells a slightly different story. The 2018 quota has been set at 25.8 million pounds, up from the 22.58 million pounds of 2017. Alverson noted that strong year classes of fish spawned in 2014 and 2015 have begun recruiting into the fishery — good news in the health of the resource.

However, the extra quantities of the 2- to 3-pound fish coming across the docks has precipitated decreased pricing in export markets to Japan and throughout Asia.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

Halibut landings up, so Maine halibut landings to go down

June 15, 2018 — Just as in the physical world, it’s a quirk of the regulatory world of fisheries management that when something goes up, something must go down, and it isn’t always the same thing.

Last week, the Department of Marine Resources held a series of public hearings in Ellsworth, Machias and Augusta on a proposed regulation that would shorten the Maine halibut fishing season by 20 days, cut the number of allowable hooks for halibut fishing on each boat and ban possession of halibut by fishermen who have state-issued halibut tags who have been fishing outside the three-mile state waters limit.

DMR imposed those regulations on an emergency basis before the scheduled May 1 start of the 2018 season. Valid for 90 days, the emergency rule pushed the start of the season back 10 days, from May 1 to May 11, and ended the season on June 20 instead of June 30. The proposal under consideration last week would make those changes permanent.

Halibut are one of several groundfish species such as cod, haddock and yellowtail flounder that are subject to annual catch limitations established by the New England Fishery Management Council. For halibut, the council sets an overall landings quota and allocates a portion of that to fisheries in state waters — inside the three-mile limit.

The aggregate total annual allowable catch of halibut for state- and federally-permitted harvesters is currently 104 metric tons (229,281 pounds). Of that, the annual catch limit for harvesters fishing in state waters during the 2018 fishing season is 21.8 metric tons (just under 48,061 pounds).

Read the full story at The Ellsworth American

Alaska seafood industry hopes to triple exports to China after trade mission

June 7, 2018 — Seafood is Alaska’s largest commodity, and China is the state’s largest trading partner. In 2017, the Alaska Office of International Trade reports Alaska exported about a billion dollars worth of seafood to China, a figure Governor Bill Walker would like to triple.

“Nothing happens quick,” said Walker. “But I think as a goal, as we grow our seafood market opportunity, that’s something we sit down with the seafood processor and say ‘How do we grow this opportunity for increased exports out of Alaska?’ ”

Although increasing seafood exports to $3 billion might seem ambitious, Jeff Welbourn, Sr. Dir of China Business for Trident Seafood Corp., says an evolving Chinese economy could make it possible.

“China has been a manufacturing, reprocessing sector,” said Welbourn. “We’re kind of excited because we see opportunity for higher value products coming into this market.”

Those higher value products include black cod, halibut and sockeye salmon. In the past, byproduct and headed and gutted fish sold to China included items like wild Alaskan pollock and pink salmon.

“All these products here for reprocessing to a consumer market has been the real prize,” said Welbourn. “And it could triple in size pretty easily.”

In recent years, Welbourn says the Chinese consumer has moved away from lesser products. Today, they’re demanding more transparency and higher quality– a value added, premium market, which the Alaska seafood industry is poised to serve.

Read the full story at KTUU

China to Cut Import Tariffs on More Than 200 Seafood Products on July 1, 2018

June 4, 2017 — SEAFOOD NEWS — China will cut tariffs for more than 200 seafood imports as part of a move to lower tariffs for nearly 1,500 consumer goods, effective July 1, the Chinese Ministry for Finance announced last night.

On average, tariffs for all goods on the list were cut by 56 percent, according to the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council.

Tariff rates on major seafood imports, such as frozen pollock, cod fillets, sockeye salmon, and halibut, will drop from 10% to 7%. Frozen mussels, scallops and oysters will be 10% rather than 14%.  Fresh or chilled crab will be cut from 14% to 7% and fresh scallops, as an example, from 14% to 10%.

“Significantly reducing the import tariffs for daily consumer goods is conducive to expanding China’s opening-up and serves as a major measure and action of the country’s initiative to open its market,” the Ministry’s statement quoted an unnamed official of the commission as saying.

The average tariff rate for cultured and fished aquatic products and processed food such as mineral water will be cut from 15.2 percent to 6.9 percent, according to a statement released after the meeting.

The announcement came less than 48 hours before U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross lands in Beijing for “wide-ranging talks aimed at addressing American frustrations with China’s $375 billion bilateral trade surplus with the United States,” according to a May 31 report in the New York Times.

Ross will be in China from June 2 to June 4, according to the Xinhua news agency.

Last Tuesday, President Trump threatened further tariffs on Chinese goods, noting that China’s average tariff on imports was more than three times as high as US tariffs and nearly double that of the European Union. Ross announced that the US would begin imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada, Mexico and the European Union at midnight on Thursday.

New York Times reporter Keith Bradsher noted that by cutting tariffs in more than 1,000 lightly traded categories, China could end up reducing its average tariff considerably without actually running the risk of a big surge in imports.

“The goods seeing cuts are not relevant to trade with the U.S.,” Derek Scissors, a trade specialist at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington think tank told Bradsher. “For China, it fits the goal of moving up the value chain — heavy subsidies for semiconductors and now less protection for textiles and consumer appliances.”

This story was originally published by Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

Alaska: One month into the season, Bristol Bay halibut fishermen harvest a quarter of the quota

May 30, 2018 — Bristol Bay fishermen have landed 8,700 pounds of halibut so far. This year’s quota for area 4-E is 33,900 pounds, significantly less than last year’s quota of 58,800 pounds.

“It is a reduction,” said Gary Cline, the regional fisheries director at BBEDC. “It’s basically because there appears to be less halibut abundance in the Pacific, not just in area 4-E, but stretching down to southeast and throughout the Bering Sea. And, because of this concern, the regulatory agencies have adopted a more restrictive catch limits for 2018.”

Those regulatory agencies include the National Marine Fisheries Service, the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council, and the International Pacific Halibut Commission.

The decrease in halibut could stem from a variety of factors, including fishing efforts, competition for the same prey by other species such as the Arrowtooth flounder, and water temperature.

Read the full story at KDLG

 

Alaskan fishermen aren’t the only ones noticing the rise of Atlantic halibut

May 22, 2018 — As prices and demand for Pacific halibut have fallen in Alaska, commercial fishermen say a new Canadian competitor is to blame. Since 2012, Canadian imports of fresh Atlantic halibut have grown roughly 60 percent.

Historically, Atlantic halibut has not competed with its close relative on the West Coast since New England and Canadian fishermen overfished stocks in the late 1880s. But as the catch continues to grow north of the border, fishermen in New England are working towards restarting a fishery in U.S. waters.

That could have a serious impact on Alaska’s halibut industry.

Atlantic halibut seems to have been on the tip of the commercial fishing industry’s tongue in Alaska as imports from Canada continue to carve out a significant slice of the New England fresh halibut market.

Prices on the docks in Alaska have fallen about $2 per pound, and there’s a surplus of halibut in the freezer from last year that isn’t selling.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Media

 

Russia Says Volume of King Crab in Barents Sea May Equal Far East in a Few Years; Cod Catches Drop

May 18, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Russia plans to significantly increase the harvest volume of cod and Kamchatka (King) crab in the Barents Sea during the next several years, according to recent statements of representatives from leading local producers and senior officials of the Russian Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo).

This year, however, the volume of cod catch in the Barents Sea in the Arctic zone of Russia is expected to be the lowest of the last five years due to the lack of productive year classes. This was confirmed by All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Director, Kirill Kolonchin.

At the same time, according to Kolonchin, and in contrast to cod, the volume of production of Kamchatka crab in the Barents Sea may increase significantly. That increase is primarily due to the corresponding population growth of the stock that has been observed in recent years.

VNIRO experts predict the commercial stock of Kamchatka crab could reach the level of the Far East in the next five to 10 years, Kolonchin said:

“The main share in the catch volume in the Barents Sea is taken by cod [fishermen], the fishing stock of which increased from 1.5 million tons in 2006 to 4.3 million tons in 2013,” Kolonchin said. “However last year it fell to 2.5 million tons. Regulation of its catch in the Barents sea is carried out within the framework of the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission (FNC). For the current year, total allowable catch is set at 782,000, of which 331,000 tons accounts for Russia.”

He specified in 2017 the Russian catch of cod in the Barents Sea amounted to 396,000 tons, while in 2013 it was 432,300 tons. In the coming years, further reduction of cod stocks in the Barents Sea is expected due to the lack of new productive year classes recruiting into the fishery.

At the same time, according to VNIRO data, current Kamchatka crab stocks in the Barents Sea are quite high. Since the beginning of Kamchatka crab fishing in 2004, there have been two peaks in crab numbers: in 2006-07, at about 80,000 tons, and in 2014-17, at about 90,000-100,000 tons. However, in 2010, when the reserves fell significantly, the total allowable catch of Kamchatka crab in the Barents Sea was reduced from 10,400 tons to 4,000 tons. That precautionary measure resulted in the rebound and increase of its commercial stock.

Kolonchin also said that data in 2017 showed the appearance of numerous crab reserves, which should ensure the continued growth of this stock in 2019 onward.

Experts of VNIRO also added that the Barents Sea currently has favorable conditions for the catch of haddock, saithe, black halibut, sea flounder, catfish, capelin and saika. For example, after a two-year ban on capelin in 2016-2017, harvest levels for the current year were recommended at 205,000 tons, 80, 000 tons of which are the set aside for the domestic quota.

This story was originally published on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

Halibut surplus and competition on East Coast drives dock prices down

May 15, 2018 — Halibut prices have fallen about $2 per pound, and decreasing demand has left plenty sitting in the freezer from last year.

Billy Sullivan owns a small fish-buying operation in Homer, and he said years of historically high prices – about $20 to $30 per pound at your typical supermarket – have driven consumers away from purchasing Pacific halibut.

That begs the question: will Pacific halibut maintain its spot on the menu or be replaced?

“Fish business goes: first you’re on the menu, then you go on the chalk board, then once you go off the chalk board, you’re done,” Sullivan said as he sliced open a rock fish. “Halibut is off the chalkboard right now.”

Consumers are reluctant to buy expensive fillets in grocery stores and restaurants. A new competitor also is taking over a large portion of the market.

“They went and found alternatives to expensive halibut and the East Coast fish fills in,” Sullivan said.

Fishermen cashed in on high prices last year. Fish buyers in Alaska were eager to buy loads of Pacific halibut, Sullivan said.

By the fall, the market seemed to soften as cheaper Atlantic halibut started to swallow up portions of the market on the East Coast.

Read the full story at KTOO

 

North Pacific Fishery Management Council June Agenda

April 26, 2018 — The following was released by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council:   

The Council will meet June 4-11, 2018 at the Best Western Convention Center in Kodiak, Alaska.  The Agenda and Schedule are available, as well as the list of documents for review. Public comments on all agenda items will be accepted until 12 noon (Alaska time) on Friday, June 1, 2018.

Other meeting information follows:

  • Submit and review comments at comments.npfmc.org
  • Public comment deadline is June 1, 2018 at 12 noon (AST)
  • Alaska Airlines discount code: ECMZ244

IFQ Outreach Meeting

The Council will hold a public outreach session concurrent with its June 2018 meeting in Kodiak, Alaska. The session will be Tuesday, June 5, from 5:00-6:30 pm in the Pavilion Room, and will provide an open forum for stakeholders to give insight on the present state of the halibut and sablefish IFQ Program and provide direction for future actions that might be considered by the Council and its IFQ Committee. The Council is particularly seeking input on issues related to entry level opportunities and rural participation in the fishery.

More Information is available here

 

Making a better “hot dog of the sea”

April 24, 2018 — When people think of Alaska seafood, salmon and halibut come to mind. But the state also produces a lesser-known fish product sought after all around the world: surimi, the base for imitation crab.

Now the guy who helped establish surimi in America — more than 30 years ago — is on a mission to improve how it’s made.

Tyre Lanier is a food scientist at at North Carolina State University, where he’s been since the 1970s. He has a background in the science of hot dogs.

So, working on seafood initially was a bit of a stretch for him.

“I started off trying to make hot dogs out of fish believe it or not,” Lanier said. “Then I heard about surimi.”

Or as Lanier refers to it, “the hot dog of sea.”

For thousands of years, surimi seafood has been part of Japanese cuisine. Sometimes referred to as kamaboko, it comes in a variety of flavors and shapes.

Read the full story at Alaska Public Radio