Harvesters in Alaska’s pollock fishery had landed more than 90 percent of this year’s total allowable catch by October 15. Effort was decreasing in Gulf of Alaska fisheries due to poor weather and high fuel prices, according to fishery managers. In the Bering Sea, boats were expected to keep fishing up to the regulatory closure of the fishery on November 1. Harvests in both areas were expected to fall short of the total allowable catch (TAC). Overall, 3.2 billion pounds of pollock had been harvested from the Bering Sea, and an additional 138 million from the Gulf of Alaska.
Statewide, the shore-based processing sector had processed 51 percent of the total catch, while catcher/processors had processed 44 percent, and motherships the remaining 6 percent.
Through August of 2005, the European Union had been the primary destination for pollock exported from the United States, with 65 percent of the catch going to European countries, including former Soviet satellite nations. This was on par with the same period last year, when 63 percent of product had gone to the EU. Another 19 percent of the pollock product had been exported to Japan. By product form, however, more than 90 percent of fillet product was destined for EU countries, while almost 99 percent of pollock roe had gone to Japan, South Korea, and China.
Pollock is made into a variety of products, ranging from fish oil to fillets to surimi paste. Pollock roe is also an important component of overall resource value. By volume, 32 percent of the pollock harvest had been processed into surimi, with another 17 percent as skinless/boneless fillets, 12 percent in fish meal, 9 percent each in Eastern cut headed and gutted (H&G) form and deep-skin fillets. Only 5 percent was roe, and the balance was shared among approximately 20 other processed forms. While value information for the harvest is not yet available, historical value data indicate that the surimi, roe, and fillet products will be the most valuable components of the total harvest. From 2001 to 2003, pollock roe was 5 to 6 percent of the harvest by volume, but 26 to 36 percent of the overall value of the Alaska pollock resource. Surimi held steady around 33 percent of value for 42 to 46 percent of the harvest volume. The five year period from 1999 to 2003, surimi’s place as the dominant component of value for pollock production fell, from one-half to one-third of total value. Roe value increased modestly, from 20 to 26 percent, while fillet value soared from 9 percent to 24 percent.
Pollock’s position in the marketplace is primarily as a base ingredient for value added products. It is commonly
processed into fish sticks, analog products such as imitation crab, and a variety of other whitefish-based products. While its diverse applications are a benefit in many ways, it also poses market challenges. As an anonymous whitefish ingredient, pollock is sold primarily in commodity markets, where it can face stiff competition from other white-fleshed substitutes.
For fillet product, a primary competitor in the marketplace at present is tilapia, though pollock competes generally with all whitefish, including such species as saithe, hake and whiting. Primary production of tilapia in 2003, the most recent year for which worldwide data was available, was in China (1.8 billion pounds) according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Southeast Asian countries of the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand combined as the second most significant production region (966 million pounds). Egypt was another important production region (771 million pounds). Industry contacts also report that tilapia production in Central and South America and in India is putting pressure on the pollock market.
Pollock-based analog products, such as surimi, also face important competition from the Southeast Asia region, where one important whitefish substitute, threadfin bream, is harvested in capture (wild) fisheries. The fish is also known by its Japanese name itoyori.
One challenge for pollock marketers is the use of the term “Alaska pollock” to refer to Russian-produced pollock, as well as its Alaska counterpart. Because Alaska pollock is the correct species name for any pollock harvested in the Bering Sea, regardless of national boundaries, Russian pollock is not technically misbranded. But pollock companies are compelled to differentiate the product from that which is produced in Russia.
One important tool in that effort is the U.S. management of the Alaska pollock fisheries for sustainability. This successful management has been validated by the third party sustainability certifier, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), for the BSAI and Gulf of Alaska pollock fisheries. In contrast to the pollock resource in Russia, which faces challenges due to unsustainable harvesting practices, buyers can rely on the long-term availability of Alaska-based production. Salespeople for Alaska companies report that sustainability is helping them leverage relationships with buyers, who are interested in investing times in relationships that they know will have a long lifespan.
Pollock in both the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska will reopen in early January. While fishing for pollock occurs throughout most of the year, roe is generally in its best condition in the early part of the year. Total allowable catch in the 2006 fishery is currently set at 91,900 mt (203 million pounds) in the GOA and 1.5 million mt (3.3 billion pounds) in the BSAI.