Export prices for wild Alaska pollock surimi and fillets are continuing on an upward trend.
That was the key takeaway of a fishery update provided at the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers's Wild Alaska Pollock annual meeting held in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. on Monday, 16 October.
GAPP Economic Advisor Ron Rogness said export prices have climbed nearly 30 percent for surimi and 47 percent for fillets since 2017.
Overall, fillet exports were on the decline, and Rogness said he expected the percentage of fillet production that is exported to continue to trend downward. Pollock roe exports, as well, are currently half what they were in volume, and less than half in value, versus three years ago.
But while surimi and pinbone-out fillet production continued to decline, he said deep-skinned fillet production has remained consistent, indicating an increased focus on higher-value products such as those used in the food service industry and premium consumer goods.
Despite a 19 percent decline in catch, the wholesale value of the wild Alaska pollock fishery production fell by only 1 percent to USD 1.329 billion (EUR 1.358 billion) in 2022.
Rogness also outlined the consistency of the fishery and its importance to processors, and with roughly two weeks remaining in this year’s fishing season, he said he expects that trend to continue.
“When you go back over the last 10 years, the Bering Sea pollock fishery catches 99.9 percent of the quota on average each year. Only the COVID-affected year of 2020 did we have a shortfall,” he said. “This performance is unmatched anywhere in the world … that type of reliability is hugely important.”
This year, he said, is no exception.
“2022 is going to see another great year for the Gulf of Alaska,” Rogness said.
Rogness also noted that pollock is consistently among the top-five seafood items in per-capita consumption in the United States.
“Credit GAPP, credit the industry, for during that time taking advantage of this window of opportunity in being more competitive than other whitefish products and driving home the attributes of wild Alaska pollock to consumers,” he said.
Wells Fargo Senior Vice President Jana Dombrowski also provided an analysis of the U.S. terrestrial protein market and plant-based proteins at the meeting, shedding some light on the effects of inflation on food costs and consumer sentiment towards the sector.
“U.S. protein per-capita consumption has been pretty steady. My personal hope is that seafood consumption increases,” she said. “When you’re talking about the terrestrial proteins, you’re talking about one pig or one cow or one chicken. There’s hundreds of species of seafood and I think there’s a lot of room for seafood to increase its share of the [protein consumption] pie.”
Photo courtesy of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers
