The global supply of cod is likely to contract in 2023, with supplies of Atlantic cod projected to come in at under 1 million metric tons (MT).
The data, shared during the National Fisheries Institute Global Seafood Market Conference – held from 15 to 19 January in Palm Springs, California, U.S.A. – indicates landings of Atlantic cod will sit at 929,000 MT in 2023 as the catch falls in the key countries of Norway and Russia.
According to data, gathered by the Groundfish Forum, Russia pulled in 306,000 MT of cod, down from 340,000 MT in 2022; and Norway caught 278,000 MT of cod, down significantly from the 382,000 MT of cod caught in 2022. Across all countries, the catch is down roughly 14 percent.
Catches of Pacific cod, meanwhile, remained relatively stable in 2022, according to the Groundfish Forum. Its data indicates that the U.S., Russia, Japan, and South Korea caught a combined 379,000 MT of Pacific cod.
Taken together, the global cod catch in 2022 hit a low not seen in a decade at1.3 million MT – a drop from the 1.46 million MT caught in 2022 and down significantly from the 1.8 million MT caught in 2014.
Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers Director of Industry Relations, Partnerships, and Fishery Analysis Ron Rogness said the market for frozen cod fillets will still largely remain in Europe, but data also showed the U.S. demand for single- and double-frozen cod fillets remained relatively steady in 2022.
“What’s interesting is that we see kind of the same relationship between single and double frozen for the U.S. and the E.U.,” Rogness said.
Europe bought significantly more single frozen cod fillets, and the U.S. – in almost the same ratio – bought significantly more double frozen cod fillets.
Data for 2022 showed U.S. imports of double frozen cod fillets has outstripped volumes imported in 2021 and 2020, with the U.S, purchasing 39,026 MT of the product. Single frozen, meanwhile, has dropped from 2021, with the U.S. importing 11,397 MT through November 2022.
In terms of price, both single- and double-frozen were at relative highs. Single frozen cod fillets averaged USD 5.43 (EUR 5.00), while double frozen reached USD 3.99 (EUR 3.67).
Rogness said the pricing of loins and fillets remain similar to those of pollock, and unlike some of the farmed whitefish species such as tilapia and pangasius, prices haven’t gone down. Prices for cod loins rose for all product types starting in 2021 and have remained at decades-long highs.
“We haven’t seen the declines yet,” Rogness said. “We haven’t seen the rapid decline that we’ve seen in the aquaculture species.”
Image courtesy of the Groundfish Forum/National Fisheries Institute
