Saving Seafood

Pollock could see big price increases as supplies drop amidst high demand

February 2, 2022 — Experts are predicting a sharp rise in the price of pollock in 2022, with expected strong demand hitting up against supply chain complications and a smaller global harvest.

The global pollock supply is facing its first “meaningful” reduction in supply since around 2008, according to a panel at the National Fisheries Institute’s 2022 Global Seafood Market Conference, which took place 18 to 20 January. Globally, the pollock catch total will decline from 3.49 million metric tons (MT) to 3.22 million MT in 2022, according to the panel. In the U.S., the total allowable catch for Alaska pollock has been set at 1.24 million MT, down 189,000 MT from 2021.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

 

Wild Alaska Pollock Named a 2021 MSC US Ocean Champion

January 20, 2022 — The following was released by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC):

The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) today awarded Wild Alaska Pollock the 2021 MSC US Ocean Champion Award for their continued dedication and longstanding commitment to seafood sustainability. Represented by the At-Sea Processors Association (APA) on the fishery side, and by the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) on the marketing side, the Wild Alaska Pollock fishery has been a leader in sustainable fisheries management for decades. GAPP and APA join three other MSC partners named Ocean Champion in 2021.

The Award was presented to APA last month in Seattle, and today GAPP received the award at the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Marketing Conference in Orlando.

“I am proud to recognize the At-Sea Processors Association (APA) and Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers for their collaborative efforts to ensure a sustainable wild Alaska pollock fishery,” said Erika Feller, MSC Americas regional director. “We at MSC appreciate the partnership with both organizations and the incredible job they have done to spotlight Wild Alaska Pollock as one of the healthiest and most sustainable sources of protein.”

The MSC US Ocean Champion Award is an annual award that was established in 2017 to reward fisheries and companies engaged in the MSC program who demonstrate continued leadership on sustainability. Wild Alaska Pollock is recognized not only for its results but the transparency provided by the industry: independent observers actively participate in the fishing process, and publicly monitored flow scales are used to verify the accuracy of the harvests of Wild Alaska Pollock and the low amounts of incidental catches of other species. Observers also collect critical information that enables fishery scientists to ascertain the overall and on-going health of the fishery.

“Wild Alaska Pollock is good for our consumers and harvested in a way that is good for the planet. This award is a well-deserved tribute to all who conscientiously operate this fishery and celebrates our passion for sustainable fishery management,” said Mikel Durham, Chair of the GAPP Board of Directors. “We feel so strongly about conserving our fisheries and reducing our impact that we self-funded an industry-wide, 3rd-party-verified assessment last year to further increase the transparency of our ecological footprint. This MSC award is another important step in our mission to share our story with customers and consumers who are looking to make food choices based on environmental impact.”

Past award honorees include the Annette Island Reserve Salmon Fishery/Metlakatla Indian Community, Bamboo Sushi and the Sustainable Restaurant Group, Bar Harbor Foods, EcoFish, Sam’s Club Health & Wellness Team, TransOcean, US Foods, Vital Choice Seafood, and Whole Foods Market. Awardees are selected based on their demonstrated leadership and the ability to spark positive change within the industry. The custom glass award featuring a wave is handmade in downtown Seattle, WA.

Sourcing sustainable seafood is increasingly important for planetary health, and a growing priority for consumers. The ocean feeds billions of people and provides 80% of the world’s biodiversity. A report by the UN Food & Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) shows that sustainable fisheries are more productive and resilient to change, and the UN Environment Program reports that sustainable fishing protects ocean biodiversity. For seafood consumers, eating sustainable fish is increasingly important, with 55% of U.S. seafood consumers believing we must consume seafood only from sustainable sources to protect the ocean. Furthermore, 64% of Americans want retailers’ and brands’ claims about sustainability and the environment to be clearly labeled by an independent organization, such as the MSC. APA and GAPP’s leadership in sourcing and marketing certified sustainable seafood is testament to their hard work and dedication to ensuring wild seafood is available for generations to come.

 

NMFS Revises TAC Amounts For Gulf of Alaska Pollock, Pacific Cod

January 6, 2022 — The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) revised the 2022 total allowable catch (TAC) amounts for pollock and Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska. The changes, which increases the pollock TAC and decreases the Pacific cod TAC, were put into effect at 12 noon Alaska local time on January 1, 2022.

According to NMFS, the pollock TAC will increase from 99,784 metric tons (mt) to 141, 117 mt. The TAC for Pacific cod decreased from 27,961 mt to 24,111 mt.

Read the full story at Seafood News

U.S. to spend $25 million to distribute East Coast fish to nutrition programs

December 27, 2021 — The federal government will spend $25 million on East Coast fish to aid nutrition assistance programs and help New England’s struggling commercial fishing industry.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Wednesday it would make the purchase on Atlantic groundfish. That is a group of species such as cod, haddock and pollock that come to the docks in states including Massachusetts and Maine and are popular in seafood markets and restaurants.

The purchase came after members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation called on the USDA to purchase more East Coast seafood through its programs that distribute food to residents in need.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Portland Press Herald

 

Alaska residents’ salmon permits down 50 percent since 1975

October 13, 2021 — The preliminary value to fishermen of the nearly 41 million salmon caught this summer at Alaska’s largest fishery at Bristol Bay is nearly $248 million, 64 percent above the 20-year average. That figure will be much higher when bonuses and other price adjustments are paid out.

But as with the fish bucks tallied from Alaska’s cod, pollock, flounders and other groundfish, the bulk of the Bay’s salmon money won’t be circulating through Alaska’s economy because most of the fishing participants live out of the state.

In 2017, for example, 62 percent of gross earnings from the Bristol Bay driftnet fishery and 40 percent from the setnet fishery left Alaska as nonresident earnings.

That’s due to the region experiencing an overall 50 percent decline in local permit holdings since Alaska began limiting entry into commercial salmon fisheries in 1975. Combined, residents of the Bristol Bay region now hold less than one-quarter of the region’s salmon permits.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

Amid closures and stratifying salmon runs, Alaskans question fishery management process

October 11, 2021 — Lackluster salmon returns and some fishery closures have Alaskan fishermen wondering about their future.

Although overall salmon returns in the largest U.S. state have been strong this year, the results have been stratified. King salmon returns, specifically, have been in a long and steady decline. Statewide, king landings – by number of fish – have declined by more than 70 percent in the last 40 years, from a high of 875,630 fish in 1982 to 265,081 in 2020. The harvest so far for 2021 is about 212,000 fish. When accounting for landings by weight, the reduction is almost 85 percent over the same period, from almost 16.9 million pounds in 1982 to 2.9 million in 2020, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Read the full story from National Fisherman at SeafoodSource

 

“A calculated and secret scheme”: US CBP alleges willful Jones Act violations by pollock transporters

September 15, 2021 — The U.S. government accused the operators and clients of a dead-end rail line in New Brunswick, Canada, used in transporting Alaska pollock to the U.S. East Coast, of engaging in “a calculated and secret scheme” to escape the restrictions of the Jones Act, which requires all domestically-caught seafood to be transported via vessels built in the United States with U.S. materials.

The filing in a U.S. District Court in Alaska on 14 September came in response to a lawsuit from American Seafoods subsidiary Alaska Reefer Management (ARM) and the company that operates the New Brunswick facility, Lineage Logistics subsidiary Kloosterboer International Forwarding (KIF), challenging approximately USD 350 million (EUR 294.3 million) in fines issued by U.S. Customs and Border Protection against them and their contracted transportation partners. The suit was filed on 2 September.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

USDA awards USD 10 million in Alaska pollock contracts

August 10, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded around USD 10 million (EUR 8.5 million) in Alaska pollock contracts to Trident Seafoods and Channel Fish Processing.

Despite the big win for pollock producers, pollock processors left several million dollars of the contract on the table. The USDA said in a notice it could not award contracts for nearly 2.1 million pounds of frozen pollock fillets, 1.5 pounds million pounds of pollock nuggets, and 1.25 million pounds of fish sticks “due to vendor constraints.”

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Northeast groundfish: Some popularity for pollock as market sorts out from covid

August 10, 2021 — In 2019, Maine’s total commercial groundfish landings were valued around $4 million. In 2020, fleets in Maine landed just 58,730 pounds of cod, averaging  $2.55 per pound at the dock valued at $149,844, whereas 15.2 million pounds had been landed a decade before.

A 2021 NOAA status update reported that in New England, 13 commercial species are currently considered “overfished” including: Atlantic cod (considered collapsed), yellowtail flounder, Atlantic halibut, winter flounder, and Atlantic herring. 

“One problem is that there are so many dogfish out there, and they’re having trouble getting groundfish, over the whole Eastern Seaboard,” says George Parr, a longtime fishmonger at Upstream Trucking in Portland, Maine. In recent years, dogfish have been showing up earlier and earlier in the Gulf of Maine. While dogfish rarely prey on Atlantic cod, studies have looked into whether dogfish populations may be limiting cod, by competition or predation.

“For every hundred pounds of [other] fish they bring in, they bring in 500 pounds of dogfish,” says Parr. “They get 10 cents a pound for it.” 

At the Portland Fish Exchange in Portland, Maine, large haddock was $2.26 per pound, while pollock was averaging $1.69 for small, $2.54 for medium and $2.66 for large in early July.

“But right now, large pollock is getting around $3 for whole fish,” adds Parr. “Twenty years ago, you’d be lucky to get 40 cents per pound.” Early July average auction prices for cod were $3.01 for market size and $5.10 for large.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

US government makes bid request for nearly 8 million pounds of Alaska pollock

July 30, 2021 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s new massive bid request for 7.942 million pounds of frozen Alaska pollock will push the agency’s pollock purchases to near-record levels.

With the latest acquisition, the agency will have purchased nearly 18.3 million pounds of Alaskan pollock for the fiscal year 2021, Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) CEO Craig Morris told SeafoodSource.

Read the full story at Seafood Source