Seafood Market

3/6/23

Market Alerts

Supply steady, pricing steady
Potential supply challenges or near-term price increases
Current supply challenges and price increases

WILD CAUGHT

King Salmon (Wild) – The Alaskan winter troll season is now open. Fish is very sporadic. Customers are encouraged to notify Northern Fish regarding any refresh King volume.

Refresh Sockeye Salmon (Wild) – Bristol Bay produced record volumes this summer contributing to stable year over year pricing for refresh product.

Refresh Coho Salmon (Wild) – Frozen at Sea and refresh product is available now. Product is from Haida Gwaii, formerly known as the Queen Charlotte Islands, off the coast of British Columbia (BC).

Wild Halibut – All halibut currently being shipped is from previously frozen product. The IPHC announced a start date of March 10th, and we expect the first fish to arrive in our facility on March 13th or 14th.

Rock Fish – Supply is choppy due to weather. Primary catch area is British Columbia.

Dover Sole – Supply is erratic due to fishing conditions. Primary catch area is Oregon Coast.

True Cod – Supply has improved but expect pricing to remain elevated.

Ling Cod – Ling Cod is being harvested as bycatch from the ground fish fleet. Primary catch area is British Columbia.

Black Cod – Supply is very tight. Sizing is on the smaller side with very little fish above four pounds. The Washington long line season opens March 15th.

Dungeness Crab – The Dungeness season in Oregon and Washington is ongoing. Volumes are strong and prices on all product forms are lower than last year. Crabmeat production is back to pre-pandemic levels. Please contact your sales rep on any new business.

Snow Crab – The Alaskan season will not open this year but supply is strong from Eastern Canada.

King Crab With sanctions on all Russian seafood and the closure of Alaska, customers do not have a direct replacement readily available. There is still some product in the United States that arrived from Russian prior to the sanctions prompted by the war in Ukraine.

AQUACULTURE

Atlantic Salmon (Farmed) – Atlantic salmon prices remain elevated due to the temporary shutdowns in British Columbia (BC). Prices on whole Norwegian product spiked due to increased demand from China as the country removed nearly all Covid restrictions. The shutdowns at the farms have lasted longer than anticipated due to slower than normal growth patterns. We do expect to begin processing our first BC product since the beginning of January late next week. With this increased supply we expect some price relief on smaller fish in 10-14 days.

Steelhead, Norway (Farmed) – Product is available, and pricing is stable. Customers are encouraged to do a side-by-side comparison with farm raised product from the Columbia River. With elevated Atlantic pricing this is a perfect opportunity to introduce this product to your customers.

King Salmon (Farmed) – Supply of Creative™ Farm Kings is stable. Primary harvest area is British Columbia.

Manila Clams – Supplies are mostly stable. We have seen some disruptions due to weather and regulatory closures. Primary harvest areas are Willapa Bay and North Puget Sound.

Oysters – The supply of bed specific product has taken a turn for the worse. Slower than expected growth, floods in California and regulatory closures in Canada have eliminated some of the more popular names. Shigoku, Capital and Chelsea Gems are effectively offline until May. The harvest area for Kusshi’s is closed for 4-5 weeks. The bulk of the Kumamoto production from California is offline due to flooding in California. We do expect to have improved supply of Luna Bella’s and Island Sweets. Shucked product remains in steady supply.