The Pacific halibut fishery opened on March 14 amid little fanfare and flattened markets.
The first fish of the eight-month season typically attracts the highest prices and is rushed fresh to high-end buyers, especially during the Lenten season. But that’s not the case in this time of coronavirus chaos, when air traffic is stalled and seafood of all kinds is getting backlogged in global freezers.
Alaska’s share of the 2020 halibut catch is about 17 million pounds for nearly 2,000 fishermen who own shares of the popular flatfish. A week into the fishery, fewer than 50 landings were made totaling just over 262,000 pounds and, as anticipated, prices to fishermen were in the pits.
Earliest price reports at Homer were posted at $4.20 to $4.40 per pound, Kodiak prices were at $3.25 for 10-20 pounders, $3.50 for halibut weighing 20-40 pounds and $4 for 40-ups Prices ranged from $3.75 to $4.00 at Yakutat and $3.50 “across the board” at Wrangell, according to Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer.
The highest prices of $5.00, $4.75 and $4.50 were reported at Southeast ports that have regular air freight service, although they are expected to drop by $1-$2 per pound, according to a major buyer.
The average statewide price for Alaska halibut in 2019 was $5.30 a pound and $5.35 in 2018.
For this season’s start, some Alaska processors were buying small lots of halibut on consignment or filling existing orders; others were not buying at all.
“We are tentatively going to be buying longline fish on the first of May after the Columbia ferry gets back on line,” said a major buyer in Southeast who blamed not having traditional ferries that haul thousands of pounds of fish each week, and a lack of air freight options at smaller communities.
“We’re down here where transportation is dictating where fish has to go,” he added.
Most of Alaska’s halibut goes into the U.S. market, where in recent years it has faced stiff competition from up to 8 million pounds of fresh Atlantic halibut, primarily from eastern Canada.
And although Russia has banned purchases of U.S. seafood since 2014, increasing amounts of halibut caught by Russian fishing fleets are coming into our nation. Trade data show that 2 million pounds of Pacific and Atlantic halibut were imported to the United States over the past year through January 2020, valued at nearly $6.7 million.
A major Alaska buyer said: “One of our salespeople shot us a deal showing that right now you can buy frozen-at-sea, tail off, 3-5 and 5-8 pound Pacific halibut from Russia for $3.25 a pound.”
Also newly appearing on U.S. shelves: farmed halibut fillets from Norway retailing at $9.99 a pound.
