Restaurant closings, depressed Japan market push halibut, black cod prices down

Crippled ferry service, COVID-19, and flailing Japanese markets have hurt the Alaska halibut and black cod seasons.

Alaska’s halibut fleet fished on allocations of 16.08 million pounds, but deliveries as of early May stood at just 1.46 million pounds, with the brunt of them coming out of harvest area 3A. The season opened on 14 March and will run until 15 November, with supply volumes to market lagging in the early season thanks to crippled state ferry service and the COVID-19 virus.

“What could be an interesting development would be if the fleet waits until way later in the season to fish their quotas,” Bob Alverson, manager of the Fishing Vessel Owners’ Association in Seattle said. “That could put a lot of fish into the market in a very short time.”

The Alaska Marine Highway System, which operates a fleet of ferries, had been the traditional conduit for getting the flatfish from processors to markets in Seattle. Cuts in state budgets reduced sailings from many ports and severed service to some Southeast Alaskan communities altogether.

Then came COVID-19. Widespread closure of restaurants killed demand for fresh fish, which fetch higher ex-vessel prices than those headed for freezers to supply markets during the months that fishing is closed.

In 2019, the longline fleet had landed 3.82 million pounds in the period ending May 14, and fishermen saw ex-vessel prices of USD 3.25 (EUR 2.87) for the 10- to 20-pounders, USD 3.50 (EUR 3.10) for the 20- to 40-pounders, and topped out at USD 4.00 (EUR 3.54) for 40-ups. That’s USD 2.00 (EUR 1.77) per pound less in each of the weight splits from what the fleet received last year.

Black cod longliners, meanwhile, saw a substantial quota increase with this year’s IFQ allocations, set at 31.71 million pounds. Fishing started slow, with landings adding up to 3.96 million pounds as of 2 May. While this year’s quotas outshine the 25.97 million pounds for the 2019 season, demand for the fish in Japanese markets remains soft, and with restaurants closed worldwide, demand for the 5-pound fish fell flat.

Ex-vessel price splits for black cod landed in Alaska began at USD 0.30 (EUR 0.27) per pound for fish under two pounds, USD 1.30 (EUR 1.15) for 2-to-3-pounders, USD 2.10 (EUR ) for 3-to-4s, around USD 2.50 (EUR 2.21) for 4-to-5s, USD 3.75 (EUR 3.32) for 5-to-7s, and USD 6.00 (EUR ) for 7-ups. That’s down by more than USD 1.00 (EUR 0.88) per pound in each weight category from last year.

Photo courtesy of National Fisherman