Whitefish Update
Alaska Production
Alaska’s whitefish production is well underway for the 2007 season with winter Pacific cod fisheries wrapping up around the state and pollock fisheries progressing in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska regions.
Total allowable catch for pollock in 2007 is 1.48 million metric tons (MT), with 96 percent of the harvest to come from waters in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands region and 4 percent coming from the Gulf of Alaska. For Pacific cod, the TAC is 222,900 MT, with 77 percent coming from BSAI and 23 percent from the GOA.
Fifty percent of the Pacific cod quota in the Gulf of Alaska was harvested as of the last week in April, and 67 percent of the BSAI quota had also been harvested. For pollock, 47 percent of the GOA quota and 40 percent of the BSAI quota had been harvested.
Bering Sea Pacific cod processing was dominated by headed & gutted (H&G) product forms, which accounted for 83 percent of the total. Another 6 percent was roe, 4 percent was skinless/boneless fillet, and the remainder was mixed among numerous other product forms. This differed significantly from the GOA fisheries, where approximately 40 percent of the harvest was H&G, with another 20 percent processed into skinless/boneless fillets. Other product forms, each of which accounted for 6 percent or less of total production, included milt, roe, heads, salted & split products, and other forms.
In the pollock fisheries, one-third of BSAI production went to surimi, with skinless/boneless and deep-skin fillets each picking up another 15 percent of production. Roe was 12 percent of the processed volume, as was fish meal. Various other forms contributed nominal amounts to the total processed volume.
In the GOA production was weighted toward H&G products which, between Eastern and Western style cuts, accounted for 47 percent of total production. Surimi was only 20 percent of the volume, and roe was 16 percent. Skinless/boneless fillets were another 14 percent of production. Other product forms accounted for less than 5 percent of total production.
Alaska Exports
Through February, Asia was the leading destination for cod products exported from the ports of Anchorage and Seattle (exports from these ports are treated as proxies for Alaska exports, though some volumes of Alaska product can be exported from other locations. Additionally, export figures do not specify between Atlantic and Pacific cod.
Exports from Seattle and Anchorage are assumed to comprise primarily Pacific cod. Out of total cod exports of 19,100 MT, South Korea, Japan, and China were the three top cod destinations, taking 27 percent, 15 percent and 14 percent of exports, respectively. European countries followed, with reprocessors such as Portugal, the Netherlands and Norway joined by Germany as major destinations.
For pollock, Germany and Japan were the leading destinations, taking 31 percent and 28 percent, respectively, of a total of 126,800 MT of exports. South Korea took another 20 percent.
Whitefish around the Globe
China has been moving to the top of the supplier list for cod into the European market. Globefish reports that China is the top supplier of cod to the UK, France and Germany—surpassing perennial leaders such as Denmark, Norway and Russia. China does not have a domestic cod fishery, and exports are of reprocessed cod, including Alaska cod.
Imports of frozen cod fillet from China by UK, France and Germany, Jan-Nov 2006
Country |
Jan-Nov 2006 |
United Kingdom |
22,300 |
France |
4,500 |
Germany |
7,100 |
Total |
33,900 |
Looking at the global pollock scene, a Russian association of pollock producing vessels—the Alaska Pollock Fishing Association—has applied for Marine Stewardship Council certification for the Russian Far East pollock fishery. The species name for pollock harvested in the Bering Sea fisheries is “Alaska pollock,” meaning that fish harvested in Russian waters also use the Alaska moniker. In recent years, MSC certification has been one of several tools used by Alaska producers to differentiate pollock from U.S. waters from that harvested in Russia. The MSC certification process is lengthy, and uncertainty exists as to whether the Russian fishery would ultimately receive the certification.
