The domestic whitefish supply stands to become more robust as the year progresses, thanks to an about-face by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), which in July increased quotas for several key East Coast species.
Most important to the overall supply, if not restaurant menus, was a staggering increase in the Atlantic pollock quota, from 6 million to 36 million pounds. Fishermen had long denied the federal government’s stance that pollock stocks were low, and fresh data from surveys in the North Atlantic proved the harvesters’ case.
Pollock is so important because once its quota is reached for a certain sector, or fishing area, all harvesting is brought to a halt for all species. A couple of good days of fishing could accomplish that, so the ruling comes as a relief for fishermen.
Spiny dogfish quotas were also increased from 12 million to 15 million pounds, and the skate limit was increased from 67.5 million pounds to 90.5 million pounds. Higher quotas on these fish will mean more cod, haddock and flounder available this year, according to one East Coast distributor. A notable softening in prices, however, is not expected, as demand for groundfish has been strong this summer.
In mid-July, prices for head-off cod had jumped to the mid-USD 4 range, f.o.b. New York’s Fulton Fish Market. Fillets from New York were priced in the low- to mid-USD 6 range, while fillets from Boston were priced only a bit lower, up dramatically from the high-USD 4 range just a month prior. Fresh haddock fillets were priced in the high-USD 5 to low-USD 6 range, f.o.b. Boston.
Frozen cello-packed cod fillets were tagged in the mid-USD 4 range, f.o.b. Mid-Atlantic, while FAS shatterpacks of both cod and haddock were priced in the low-USD 3 range.
Good and bad news to report about Iceland’s groundfish supply: While cod quotas for the 2010-11 season, set to begin next month, are up 10,000 metric tons to 160,000 metric tons, the haddock quota is set to drop to 50,000 metric tons, down about 10,000 metric tons.
U.S. imports of frozen haddock fillets from Iceland were fairly steady through May, according to NMFS. A little over 3.4 million pounds had been imported through May, about a 2 percent decrease from the same period last year.
Imports of frozen cod fillets from China were up a dramatic 53.6 percent to about 8.8 million pounds. Overall cod imports were essentially flat, totaling 41.4 million pounds through May.
