After finally setting into a level price range last year, halibut prices could be unsettled this year as a big cut to the quota for Pacific halibut could topple the delicate balance. Some of that impact could be offset by switches to Atlantic halibut and product from Russia, or by switching to other species.
The International Pacific Halibut Commission in January set the 2014 total allowable catch at 27.5 million pounds, an 11.2 percent cut from the 2013 quota, which itself was cut 7.5 percent from 2012. The 2014 number is closer to 24 million pounds, since the other 3 million pounds in the quota is allocated to sport fishermen, says one halibut industry executive.
While that should likely translate into a higher price, the executive says he doesn’t expect prices to reach the levels they did at the end of 2012 and start of 2013.
“There was fairly significant market resistance when it went into 2013, as both 2011 and 2012 fish were still in freezers. I don’t know what the situation will be like this year but I don’t think it will be anywhere like that level,” he says. “The price kind of found a level last year with that amount of supply and price, and consumers were voting with their wallets.”
Mid-February prices for whole dressed fish, f.o.b. Seattle, ranged between USD 7 (EUR 5.07) and USD 7.50 (EUR 5.44) a pound, depending on the size of the order. Whole halibut from the Atlantic were selling at New York’s Fulton Fish Market in the mid- to upper-USD 9 (EUR 6.52) range.
There now seems to be some tightness in the frozen halibut market, while on the fresh side more fish is coming from the East Coast than there used to be, said a supplier.
“The West Coast had dominated but now there is a lot more balance,” he said. “But the East Coast fish that come in are not able to reach the same prices that we have seen in the last 18 months, and a lot of fishermen are dispirited, which creates some chaos. It’s still not cheap — far from it — but it has lost a little bit of its pricing edge. It’s a little bit chaotic and we’re trying to make sense out of it.”
It’s possible halibut could fall into the same price pattern that has impacted other fatty whitefish such as black cod and Chilean sea bass, which all have been very strong on the price size for several years, the CEO said.
“Black cod prices went down by 35 to 40 percent and nobody cared; it didn’t stimulate any more movement,” he said. “We’re really seeing what I would consider to be pricing fatigue. The people who are in the fresh business see it. The frozen business is seeing OK sales, but they are riding off inventories and a lot of what is happening is some fresh demand is being satisfied with frozen. I don’t see it as a strong market.”
February 28, 2014
