Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident Seafoods was awarded the entirety of the most recent United States government purchase of frozen pollock.
To help offset losses from the United States-China trade war, the United States Department of Agriculture is buying nearly USD 38.8 million (EUR 35 million) worth of frozen Alaska pollock fillets and pollock fish sticks for federal food and nutrition assistance programs.
Trident will deliver the pollock – around 16.8 million pounds worth – to numerous U.S. cities between January 2020 and September 2020.
By May of this year, the USDA set a record for most pollock purchases in a year. At the time, the agency had agreed to purchase around 13.8 million pounds of pollock, compared to around 13.4 million for the entire fiscal year 2017, when there was excess inventory.
“USDA has become a true partner to the wild Alaska pollock industry in a number of ways in recent years, ranging from their appreciation for the significance of our fishery and the important role it plays in job creation, to the U.S. balance of trade, to what a wholesome, nutritious and delicious fish wild Alaska pollock is,” Craig Morris, CEO of the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP), told SeafoodSource in May.
