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January 4, 2012

 

January 4, 2012

The first of January begins new seasons and new quotas on different species. In Alaska, we will see the beginning of the Pacific Cod season which should last until April. The positive is that the quota has been increased; there’s plenty of Cod and prices on a worldwide basis are relatively stable. On a negative note, air freight out of Alaska is through the roof and we are going to be paying up to a dollar and a half per pound to fly fish out of Alaska into the Southeast at times this year.  All in all, it should be a good season. While the fish will not be cheap it most certainly will be reasonably priced.  We are exploring alternative methods of getting fish out of there but as of yet there is nothing to report.

New season quotas begin on Fluke Flounder in the mid-Atlantic this week. New quotas have been issued and boats will start fishing.  Of course this is like Alaska, all subject to weather. We don’t think the prices will be as inexpensive as they were in mid-December but we do think that they will certainly be more reasonable than they are this week as quota gets established and boats go out with decent catch limits. We will see. 

In the mid-Atlantic Striped Bass will become harder and harder to get until new tags are issued at the end of the month and prices will stay very strong.

There are new quotas now for Black Bass, Tilefish, and certain species of Redfish and Tautog so we could see some of these fish make its way into the marketplace though not enough to bring the market down on those fish.

Scallop quotas begin on April 1st so there is not a lot of relief expected in that market until then.

In the South, there has been an increase of quota for Grouper and Snapper. We are still unclear as to whether there will be a moratorium for fishing on February 15, 2012. We are still trying to get a definitive answer on that. But there should be some Grouper, domestic at least, in the marketplace. Snapper has been plentiful but very expensive and we expect it to stay that way.

Traditionally, imports on all species like Grouper, all Snapper, and Mahi Mahi are limited for the first 2-3 weeks of the year as fishermen come in to spend time with their family to celebrate Three Kings Day in Central and South America. We think this will hold true this year and fish will get tight and more expensive until around the end of the third week of January when they will loosen up.

Of course traditionally, this is a slow time of year for people eating out in restaurants but it’s a good time for retailers to try to emphasize seafood’s healthy and caloric benefits for New Year’s resolution dieters.

We expect to start seeing more fish come in from New England as the last two and a half to three weeks fish has been very tight. They also have some new restrictions that they are dealing with and we are trying to figure out what those will do to species like Cod, Haddock and Sole from that area. The Gulf of Maine had their Cod quota severely decreased after 5 years of gradual increases in the quota. The government scientists say that this stock of cod was not rebuilding but actually decreasing. Fisherman and other marine scientists say the test were done in waters that the cod were not in because of colder water temperatures when the testing was done. It is a fact that last winter’s extremely cold weather affected the water temperature and the fish were in different areas. This also is true of Maine Shrimp and their seasonal quota was drastically cut.

Fish to feature for the next couple of weeks are species like Amberjack, farm-raised Cobia and farm-raised Atlantic Salmon from Scotland, Chile and Canada as well as new shipments of Norwegian Salmon Trout which has proven to be a very popular fish among all of our customers due to its high-fat content. 

Another farm-raised fish that will be plentiful and good to feature is Farmed Halibut from Norway. We will be getting in weekly shipments from Norway starting this week and will continue for the next 2-3 months.

In addition, we have a good supply of previously frozen Alaskan Halibut for those who do not want to spend the money that farm-raised Halibut commands at this point.