Pacific cod seasons around the state are opening for the 2006 season this month. Major longline, pot and jig seasons opened on the 1st of the month in many areas of the state, with trawl seasons coming online in the third week. Harvesters and processors are going to work on an estimated total allowable catch of 574 million pounds in 2006 between the federal and state fisheries. The Bering Sea Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska fisheries have a total allowable catch of 543 million pounds. State Pacific cod quotas have averaged just above 31 million pounds since 2000. In fisheries around the state the season depends on harvest rates and can last from the 1st of January through to the end of the year.
Pacific cod is experiencing a strong period in the marketplace, fed by worldwide cod supply shortages and increased acceptance of Pacific cod as an alternative to its Atlantic cousin in European markets. Exports of cod species from the United States have increased accordingly. Trade statistics from the National Marine Fisheries Service reflect a noteworthy positive trend in exports of cod from the United States. Data from the first 10 months of 2005 indicated that more than 169 million pounds of cod was exported during that period. Although NMFS does not differentiate between Pacific and Atlantic cod for the purpose of trade statistics, Pacific cod dominates U.S. production, accounting for 95 percent of 2004 cod landings. While exports were down from the same period in 2004, this nevertheless represents an increase of nearly 40 percent over the five-year period beginning in 2000.
Atlantic cod stocks in the United States and Canada continue to suffer from serious biological shortages and corresponding limitations to commercial fisheries. Similarly, European fishery managers established total allowable catch (TAC) levels in the end of December intended to reduce harvests in the European area by 15 percent in 2006, in response to cod stock declines in the region. In contrast, Alaska’s cod stocks appear to be healthy. Indeed, the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), which certifies the sustainability of fisheries around the world, certified the Bering Sea freezer longline fishery sustainable in 2005.
Export data reflect these trends, with the volume of cod moving into European markets increasing steadily in recent years, from 23 percent in the first 10 months of 2000, to 37 percent in the same period in 2005. Exports to China also increased markedly during the same period, from 4 percent to nearly 20 percent during. This is in keeping with trends across many fisheries products, with the seafood industry looking to the Asian country for low-cost processing of value-added products. Meanwhile, Japan’s share of U.S. cod exports has fallen, from 47 percent to 24 percent, though data is not available to assess the re-export destinations of China’s processed products.
The strength of the market appears to be having an impact at the dock in Alaska. According to cod buyers in Kodiak and Dutch Harbor, ex-vessel prices were starting strong in early January. Longline, pot, and jig fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands regions open on the first of the month, with trawl fisheries set to open on the 20th of January. Prices were as much as 20 percent higher than averages from 2005. However, buyers expected ex-vessel prices to soften with the opening of trawl fisheries and resulting increases in supply.
Cod is one of many fishery resources that are seeing increased production effort from aquaculturists. Worldwide farmed cod production grew more than fifteen-fold from 2000 to 2003 alone, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, to 5.6 million pounds (2003 is the last year for which worldwide data is available). This volume is still very small in comparison to capture production volumes. But the rate of growth for the industry, combined with continued funding and activity from private and public sources in countries such as Norway and Canada, means that farmed cod has the potential to develop over time into a serious marketplace competitor.
