The U.S. Department of Agriculture will likely buy lots more Alaska pollock in 2024, according to Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers CEO Craig Morris.
In a new solicitation, the USDA is seeking to buy 815,600 pounds of pollock, including 435,000 pounds of frozen bulk fish and 380,000 pounds of frozen breaded Alaska pollock fillets.
Bids must be submitted by 14 November 2023 and acceptances will be announced by midnight on 27 November. Deliveries to several cities will be made between January and 31 March 2024.
The solicitation is an entitlement purchase, so it is much smaller than the very large “bonus” or surplus removal purchases that USDA delivers to food banks in household portion sizes, according to Morris. Entitlement purchases come solely from school districts that are using their entitlement credits from USDA based on the percentage of families in the district that qualify for free or reduced-priced meals that order seafood instead of other proteins like chicken or beef, Morris said.
However, Morris said 2024 is shaping up to be another big year for USDA purchases of Alaska pollock.
“GAPP is expecting this year to be another very strong Alaska pollock purchase year by USDA, so it is safe to assume that there will be additional, more sizable USDA purchases of Alaska pollock in the months to come,” Morris told SeafoodSource.
The USDA purchased more than USD 68 million (EUR 63.5 million) worth of Alaska pollock in the 2023 fiscal year, its second-biggest year of purchases after 2019.
In early November, the USDA canceled a purchase order for walleye fillets.
The USDA’s Agriculture Marketing Service/Commodity Procurement Program attempted to buy 108,000 pounds of walleye fillets in mid-August, but the agency said no bids were received.
In December 2022, the USDA bought 108,000 pounds of walleye fillets from Redby, Minnesota, U.S.A.-based Red Lake Nation Fisheries for USD 1.3 million (EUR 1.2 million). Red Lake Nation Fisheries has won all four walleye contracts USDA has issued since December 2020.
Photo courtesy of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers
