Chilean sea bass, also known as Patagonian toothfish in Europe, mero in Japan, and bacalao de profundidad (deepwater cod) in Chile, continues to be one of the most popular fish in the world, especially in the United States, the largest importer of the species. After years of illegal fishing and a sustained crackdown on such activities, Chilean sea bass landings seem to have stabilized, but are far from a high point in the early to mid-1990s.
Chile’s landings of this species, found at depths of more than 2,000 meters in the Antarctic regions of numerous southern hemisphere countries, have recovered slightly over last year. Chile supplies more than 80 percent of the U.S. market’s toothfish. While annual quotas for this species have been steady at around 3,000 metric tons (MT), yet the total capture in 2011 was just 1,900 MT. Year-to-date landings through September were 1,500 MT, a 29.7 percent increase over the same period in 2011. The vast majority of this catch is exported as frozen fillets.
However, while catches were up as of September, the overall value of exports has dropped. While prices were more or less stable at around USD 25 per kilogram in previous years, this year the Chilean Fisheries Undersecretariat forecast an average of just under USD 20 per kilogram for frozen fillets. Subsequently, the total value of exports has fallen by 11.7 percent: From January to September 2011 exports were worth USD 58.83 million, and this year in the same time period the value dropped to USD 51.94 million.
On the aquaculture front, progress continues to be made with experiments to cultivate sea bass in Chile, with new techniques allowing for a greater survival rate. However, it should be noted that this is a species that takes at least 10 years to reach reproductive age, so this work is still in a very preliminary stage.
