As Chile continues to recover after a serious outbreak of infectious salmon anemia (ISA), other farmed salmon-producing countries have stepped in to fill the supply gap and establish a presence and identity within the U.S. market.
“ISA had a devastating impact on Atlantic salmon” from Chile, says Jason Paine, U.S. general manager for Multiexport Foods in Miami, which imports salmon from Chile. And this year, he says, the effects are felt more intensely. In 2008, Chile exported 400,000 metric tons of Atlantic farmed salmon. Last year, those numbers fell to 200,000 metric tons, says Paine, and this year the estimate is about 80,000 to 90,000 metric tons.
The supply constraint has resulted in higher prices for all product that is coming to the United States, notes Paine. In January 2009, the wholesale price for trimmed salmon fillets was $3 per pound, f.o.b. Miami, but that has since risen to $6, and was likely to remain firm throughout the summer months, he says.
Even with the onset of the wild salmon season, Paine says there was no reason to expect farmed salmon prices to weaken.
To read the rest of the story on farmed salmon, click here. Written by SeaFood Business Contributing Editor Joanne Friedrick, the story ran in the July issue of SeaFood Business magazine.
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