It’s been a good start to the Alaska red king crab season, according to industry observers who are buoyed by the increased total allowable catch (TAC), large sizes and some moderation on price.
The TAC for Bristol Bay red king was set at just under 10 million pounds for the 2014-2015 season that got underway 15 October, up about 16 percent over last year. Through 29 October, 56 percent, or about 5 million pounds, of the IFQ portion had been landed.
A West Coast distributor following the season’s progression estimated 75 percent of the red crab would be landed by the end of October.“We started out the season with a lot of big crab,” he said, although that is now reducing a bit. “And the meat fill has been the best I’ve seen; it’s outstanding,” he added.
Prices have softened slightly since the season started, with 12-14 count legs and claws at USD 11.75 to 12.20 (EUR 9.22 to 9.57) a pound in late October vs. USD 11.90 to 12.35 (EUR 9.33 to 9.69) at the outset.
“I’d love to see the prices come down,” said a Midwest restaurateur who buys 70,000 pounds of king crab yearly. He estimated that prices on what he’s buying for 2015 will be about the same as last year’s.
“They say stocks are recovering, so maybe in a year or two we’ll get a break.”Even with the quota up, a lot of king crab still goes to Japan, he said, “so we won’t see much of a [price] decrease.”
The Japanese market is off a little bit, said the distributor, and that could allow prices to fall by 50 cents a pound — maybe. But more impactful, he said, would be the influx of Russia crab into the market. With the lure of buying single legs from Russia at USD 2 to 3 (EUR 1.57 to 2.35) a pound less, “it’s hard to stay competitive.”
“There’s never enough U.S. product,” said a Midwest distributor, who was just beginning to explore offerings on frozen king crab. “People are asking what kind of numbers we are looking for,” he said.
He said he takes what he can get on Alaska crab and then moves to product from Russia. There is still some inventory on hand from last season, he said, which could soften prices.The restaurateur, who is using up last’s year inventory and will start with this season’s crab around January, said he is selling kings at USD 68 (EUR 53.34) a pound. “In the Midwest, king crab is the premium item,” he said.
Alaska snow crab, which also began its season in October and is experiencing a higher TAC as well — up 26 percent over 2013 — is on the menu only for its suburban location. “We’ve tried it in the city, but urbanites are spoiled. They only want king.”
