HALIBUT

The 2008 Season Opened on March 8th
Here are the current Catch totals

FARMED

Atlantic: The market remains relatively steady. Lent has not produced the demand that the farms anticipated. Chile continues to fight ISA and now the disease has been found in region 11. Fear is that ISA will spread and continue to force Chile ’s farms to harvest sooner than they want to. We do expect a reduction of 15 to 30 percent supply from Chile over the next few months. The question is whether the Canadian farms can cover the reduced amount since their production is increasing over the next few months.

Steelhead: This is a good alternative to the other farmed salmons. Availability is very good and the cost of PBO fillet is a great value.

Kings/Coho: We are down to one farm doing the Farmed kings. Supply is very tight and the market is very strong.

WILD

KINGS:

TROLL KINGS: 

ALASKA : The winter troll king season will continue until the quota is reached. Typically this fishery begins slowly peaking in production in the spring, usually late March and April.  Weather is usually the deciding factor as winter storms prevent the boats from fishing and this winter has been worse than most. Few if any troll kings have been landed in the past month. This year the production and weather were so bad in January and February several of the processing plants actually closed until March 1st. The bulk of the quota is still available for this spring.

CANADA : The Canadian troll king fishery has been suspended but there is rumor that there may be a small opener in mid to late April. The concern over the lack of kings returning to the Sacramento Delta and Klamath River have put a damper on all Canadian and lower 48 troll seasons.

Washington/Oregon/California : The troll king seasons are suspended until further notice. There will be more meeting the second week of April to discuss potential openers in May. Regardless there will be very little if any troll king seasons this year south of Cape Falcon ( Manzanita Oregon )

NET KINGS: 

Columbia River:  The next opportunity for fresh net kings will occur during the spring Chinook fishery this spring. Typically there is a season on the lower Columbia River in late February and into March targeting Willamette River bound springers. This years Willamette River run is projected to be extremely low, so much so that there may not be a commercial net season on the Columbia River below the I-5 bridge in Portland . This would prevent the nets from catching any Willamette River bound fish, as the  I – 5 Bridge is upstream from the mouth of the Willamette . The main stem / up river Columbia River run however is expected to be large and we anticipate commercial openers  on the Columbia from the I-5 bridge up to approximately Beacon Rock ( just below Bonneville Dam ). There will also be the traditional Native American fisheries above the Bonneville Dam. These could open as early as June and is likely to peak in July. These spring Chinooks are perhaps the best eating salmon in the world.

The terminal hatchery spring kings seasons are on going with very little production.The targeted areas are Youngs Bay , Blind Slough, Knappa Slough, and Deep River.

SOCKEYES:  Fresh sockeyes are done for the year but good supplies of frozen vac pac skin on PBO sockeye fillets are available. Be sure to ask your sales rep for other frozen sockeye opportunities as skin on, skin off, and portions may be available at your location. The first fresh wild sockeye will come from the Copper River fishery in mid May.

COHO'S: Fresh cohos are done for this year as well. Frozen Coho opportunities will be limited this year due to the diminished resource from the state of Alaska. Please check with your sales rep as frozen skin on PBO and PBI sides and portions may be available at your location.

CHUMS: Next opportunity for fresh wild chums will come from Prince William Sound in early June.

PINKS: Fresh pinks are done for the year but this year was the year of the pink salmon in Alaska , with record landings reported. Plenty of high quality H & G frozen pink salmon are available for retail ads and promotions.

Overview:  The exotic fish landings have been low to heavy depending on species. Look for this to be a great time to promote Tuna and Mahi as a great grilled fish item for your menu and seafood ad needs.

Blue Marlin: Coming in from Honolulu, Hawaii quality and pricing stable.

Stripe Marlin: Decent amounts of Stripe Marlin from Hawaii are available.

Escolar: Lot’s of production Coming in from Ecuador, availability is good. Good Value.

White Sea bass: Season is pretty much done some fresh available but price is high, the season generally is over the end of August. Some frozen available.

Monkfish: Fishing continues to be sporadic due to the lack of production, price is up.

New Zealand Exotics: A lot of boats still tied up from the holiday. Most will start going out next week again. The weather is improving as NZ approaches summer weather in the 70 to 80 degrees F. The big issue still remains with the exchange rates and the falling US dollar. Most fish going to Europe for more money.

Shark: The Black tip shark is fished commercially by long lines off the southeast coast of the United States . Black Tip landings have been non-existent. The Thresher Shark is found around the globe, in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans as well as in the Mediterranean . Thresher Shark availability is fair to good and prices reflect the daily availability. Mako Shark, like Threshers are also found world-wide. Mako Shark landings are poor to fair and prices are strong with little availability.

Tilapia: Farmed fish is available from the mountain spring fed ponds of Ecuador. Consistent quality, stable availability and prices have made Tilapia a very popular fish and the market demand is increasing rapidly. Fresh shipments are flown in several times a week and in a variety of forms, such as sized skinless boneless fillets and gilled and gutted dressed fish. Caution is advised on low priced fish. With Tilapia, it is true “You get what you pay for.”

Wild Sturgeon: Wild sturgeon are currently available from the gillnet fishery on the Columbia River . With each salmon opener the fishermen are generally given a specific fish quota to catch along with their salmon. This past opener the boats were allowed 10 Sturgeon per week.

Sturgeon (Farm raised): Farmed Sturgeon, remain short in supply and will likely remain tight through the up coming year. The Columbia River is currently closed for commercial sturgeon harvest but there may be an opportunity for the spring Chinook gill netters to keep incidental sturgeon during their salmon openers. These regulations have not been established as of yet.

Ono: Coming in from Vietnam and Troll caught off the Big Island of Hawaii. The cycle of boats next week will be off in Vietnam. The boats are heading out and will be out for a few weeks. Ono is a Bi-catch item and is not a targeted species. Ono is a great alternative to Mahi when it is readily available.

Swordfish:  The Majority of the current production is coming out of Mexico. Quality is monitored by the color of the bloodline. The bloodline should be bright red. Swordfish is moist and flavorful with a slight sweet taste. 
Swordfish are graded the following way: Pups; fish 0-99 pounds, Markers; fish 100-199 pounds, Double Markers; fish 200 pounds and up. Pups are historically the best value in terms of pricing. Quality is usually monitored by the color of the bloodline. 

Mahi Mahi: Availability /Production continue to be good. The majority of the current production is coming from, Costa Rica and Panama . Prices will remain steady until the next full moon. Mahi is available year round. Average size of Mahi is 5 -10 lb. Mahi is a sweet and has a mild-taste.

                                          

Tuna (Yellow fin): Availability/Malaysia, Fiji , Costa Rica , and Hawaii are the major areas of production. Production continues to be good. Tuna price will start to increase as we get closer to New Year.  Ahi is graded by color and fat content. Yellow fin Tuna has a bright-yellow dorsal fin and a yellow strip down its side. Yellow fin tuna has a mild, meaty flavor.

Tuna (Blue fin): Fresh is available July- October in New England and June-November in California. Blue fin is graded by taking “plugs of flesh to test for color and fat content.

Tombo (Albacore): The Majority of the current production is coming out of Hawaii and Fiji Albacore tuna is the only tuna that can be labeled as white meat The average size of Albacore is between 10- 30 lb. Tombo/Albacore Tuna is both a targeted fishery and caught as bi-catch with other Tuna Fisheries. No major Changes regards to availability as it remains good and stable pricing. The albacore market is also driven by canned Tuna demand and what the fresh market can afford versus what the canneries are paying.

Ahi (Big Eye) Tuna:  Taiwan, Philippines, Fiji, and Hawaii are the major areas of production. The Vietnam season is winding down, and the quality is generally poor.  

SMELT 

Smelt:  (River Smelt)  N/A..

Surf Smelt: Production should increase over the next few months for surf smelt as weather improves. 

Smelt:  (Ocean) - The night smelt are now running strong here on the ocean beaches here in Northern CA .  They run about 35 to the lb and are great beer battered and deep fried like French fries.  

West Coast Ground fish: In between stormy weather systems, Lower 48 fishermen are making volume deliveries of Dover , Rex and Arrowtooth. Dover landings are expected to increase as some Crabbers will quit fishing for crab and switch back to dragging for bottomfish. Petrale landings are expected to drop off after March 1 when federal regulations change, preventing fishing in shallow water. The Canadian fleet will continue to land Rockfish along with Ling Cod and Arrowtooth. The Federal Alaska True Cod Season closed Feb 20. There will be a state season after that utilizing pots and jigs only. Production for Cod will drop off as a result. The best buys are Dover from the Lower 48 and Rockfish from Canada . n between storms, Lower 48 fishermen are making good deliveries of Dover, Petrale, Rex and Arrowtooth. Petrale is more plentiful now than at any other time during the year, this will continue for at least a few more weeks. Dover landings are expected to increase as some Crabbers will quit fishing for crab and switch back to dragging for bottomfish. The Canadian fleet continues to land Rockfish along with Ling Cod, and Arrowtooth. The Federal Alaska True Cod Season is underway now and will continue for the next couple of months. The best buys are Dover and Petrale from the Lower 48 and Rockfish from Canada .

Fresh Alaska Cod: True cod is currently coming out of Kodiak Alaska. 

Alaskan Pollock: The B-Season in Alaska runs from June 10th to November 1^st in the Bering Sea The B-season receives 60% of the yearly quota, so the next 3-4 months are the most important for the USA ’s largest scale fishery. Pollock stocks are healthy and the fishery is well managed and predictable, meaning that there are few micro inflationary stimuli on the supply side. But Pollock prices have risen to historic highs due to macro supply and a high demand for the product.

Trout: Trout supplies have steadily improved however fish meal price increases have affected the cost of the finished products.

Catfish: Pond pricing has leveled off a bit, and the demand has remained stable. Cost will remain the same for the next few weeks.

Live Lobster: Canadian Hard Shell - Poor weather and high winds have kept the boats off the water for most of the week. Prices will increase as supply is low. Expect Price to rise. 

Lobster Facts: When preparing to go out to harvest lobsters the Lobstermen target three fishing areas. The inshore fishery which is up to 15 miles off shore, the mid shore fishery which is 15-50 miles off shore and the offshore fishery which is past 50 miles off shore. The area that will be fished in dependant on several factors including boat size, weather conditions, area openings and market need. Live lobsters are typically graded into three shell quality categories. New shell, a lobster that has shed his old shell within the last two to three months, after three months to six months they are considered firm new shell, and after six months they are called hard or old shell. New shell lobsters are weaker and have less meat fill as their bodies are focusing on regenerating their shells. A true fully meated lobster is a better value for the consumer as the ultimate price for the meat in the hard-shelled fully meated lobster is 15-20% better then lower priced soft – shelled lobsters, not including extra mortality costs that will be incurred through the distribution channels.    
Cold Water and Warm Water Lobster Tails:  There seems to be a good inventory of small size tails that came down out of the spring production in Canada. But anything much bigger than a 5oz,  people may have to wait until the Maine production kicks in. Which should be in late July and August.  Last years production really did not get going until early September. Warm water production on Brazilian tails is happening now with Honduras kicking in, in about a month. Prices are high right now with the product moving out quite rapidly. With the Western Australian market not softening, the Brazilian prices have held their own with prices even moving up. When the Honduran production comes to the US. Their prices may be somewhat lower but it may not push the Brazilian prices down.  

Crawfish: The fresh crawfish season is now closed until April 1^st, although the season typically starts slow until May when the water temperatures increase.  During the off-season Pacific Seafood carries frozen Jake’s Famous Crawfish in both plain and spiced. These are packed in 2.5 lb trays.

Dungeness Crab: The West Coast Dungeness Season is winding down and boats are exiting this fishery. Production from this year’s season is down overall from last year. Watch for the price of all product forms to continue to increase, especially for live crab. There is plenty of inventory on hand including crabmeat, whole-cooks and sections. The next season will be in Alaska sometime in June followed by Canada in July.

King Crab: Red King Crab fishing is off to a start around the world. 

Barents Sea Region, from which the largest of the world’s king crab is harvested, began fishing in earnest middle of October.  Expect updates on fishing in upcoming reports.  Estimated arrival of new season crab is Mid December.  Current inventories are very tight and there will be shortages going into the holiday season.

Eastern Pacific Region, from which traditional smaller sizes are harvested, also began fishing this month with plenty turmoil around this production.  With the arrest of one of the largest importers of the Pacific King Crab, and the media and market frenzy created from this action, there is plenty of uncertainty in the market place.  Inventories once thought to be very adequate are now be scrutinized as the flow up new season crab is up in the air and few know how long it will be before this item stabilizes.  Expect inventories to be very tight until further news comes from the fishing grounds of when first product will be available.

Alaska Bering Sea, from which a good portion of the industries mid sizes derives from, began October 15^th and will pick up speed quickly.  Expect much of the first production to head to the Japan market for the holiday sales.   This year’s quota is up from previous years, which spells good harvest and a healthy stock from this region. 

Pacific Seafood’s JV partners are now operating several catcher/processors with very experienced captains and crew. Pacific is catching the live King Crab and the processing into Cooked and Frozen at Sea Sections. From the Barents Sea, Cooked Sections weigh from 1,000 grams (2.2 lbs) up to 1,600 grams (3.51 lbs) and higher. They are hand laid into 20 kg cartons and then shipped directly to ports in the USA as well as to customers internationally.

                          

                                        

Pacific Seafood sells sections to customers but also further processes into Single Leg and Single Legs with Claws. They are graded based on the number of Legs per 10 lbs. 4-8, 6-9, 9-12 and 12-14 ct/10 lbs. Pacific’s Red King Crab Single Leg and Single Legs with Claws are so large that they primarily fall into the 4-8, 6-9 and 9/12 size range.

They are packed, however, into 20 lb net weight cartons. 

Pacific Seafood is proud to be able to produce and to offer our customers the absolute highest quality Red King Crab in the world. In addition, Pacific Seafood is able to offer our customers the best prices because we are the producer!!! Call your sales representative. They will be glad to work with you and get you this wonderful product. Enjoy!! 

West Coast Shrimp meat: West Coast Shrimp Season is coming to a close.  Catches have been very consistent throughout the summer with a solid 350/500 grade being produced, along with a lesser amount of 250/350.  Very little if any 150/250 was produced out of the US west coast production.  Expect majority of this size to come from Canadian East coast production.  Prices are solid on 350/500 with good market demand.  Sizes 250/350 and larger appear to be short in the market with price reflecting this condition as sellers continue raising prices.

Mexican Wild: A disappointing catch season is virtually over with total landing in the Sea of Cortez down 50%+ vs. the big supplies of ’07.  Prices predictably jumped higher and now fetch a hefty premium to farmed Asian tigers.  Supplies will be very short or absent this year in most all sizes.  Domestic gulf wild could pick up the slack in summer and bridge the gap until November of ’08.  We have slim availabilities but some wonderful IQF Wild products, particularly U/10 and U/12 whites.

Farmed Whites: Higher feed and fuel costs have increased raw material costs while the weaker dollar has made imports more expensive.  Indonesia has been relatively competitive on larger sizes of vannamei blocks and retail shrimp.  Malaysia has turned into a steady source of mid-size cooked whites.  We anticipate firm levels until early harvests in Thailand bring levels back down again (May/June).

Farmed Tigers: Tigers maintained a healthy premium to whites and even Mexican Wild through much of ’07.  This changed with an overrun of supply late in the year and lethargic demand in the U.S.   Block tigers and PNDTO’s are cheap and currently offer good values.

White Shrimp: Overall production continues to grow around the world though lower raw material prices at origin have been offset by the weaker dollar.  White shrimp now comes from many Latin American and Asian countries so any shortfall at one origin gets quickly replaced by another.  The predominant farmed species is penaeus vannamei, which is endemic to the Pacific coast of Mexico and Central America .  Another species endemic to the same area is the stylirostris shrimp – this will continue to be marketed as a ‘white shrimp’ though it has an attractive blue tint to it.  We currently are carrying white shrimp from Mexico , Thailand , Indonesia , China , Ecuador and the U.S.   
Prices will continue to be steady (and historically low) as shrimp slowly becomes embraced as an American staple protein.

Tiger Shrimp: Tiger shrimp imports will continue to lag prior years.  Bangladesh, India, and Vietnam are the primary growers of penaeus monodon, which is endemic to SE Asian waters.   We have block tigers now available from Bangladesh and await fresh harvest pricing on value added products from India and Vietnam. The slowdown in availabilities will keep tigers priced at premiums to comparable white farmed and wild sizes.  It was a decade ago when tigers were introduced to the U.S. as cheaper substitutes to the farmed white products.

Razor Clams:  The next season for our plant in Nikiski, Alaska will begin in June. In the meantime, there is plenty of frozen inventory on hand.

Click here for Starfish Fancy Hand Breaded Alaska Razor clams

Clams Manila Fresh: Quality and availability has been excellent. 

Clams Misc. Fresh: Savory clams has been another good west coast clam with great shelf life and meat to shell ratio.

Mussels Fresh: The Penn Cove and Mediterranean mussels are excellent, the meat to shell ratio is full with excellent shelf life.

Oyster in shell W/Coast: Good selection of oysters coming from all areas.   

Oyster Shucked Fresh: Extra small and yearlings have been in short supply.

Scallops: Domestic sea scallop.

     2008 fishing plan 
     35 open area days at sea
     4   elephant trunk trips (18,000lbs. per trip)
     1 NLCS trip (18,000lbs. per trip) 

This is a reduction of 16 less open area days at sea from last year. (roughly 8,000,000 less lbs.)
Expect the open area days to be used primarily in April thru June when the productivity is greatest.
Expect less u/10's than last year, due to one less closed area trip the Georges' banks area. The u/10 price has been very high, which I don't expect that to change due to less landing for the fishing year.
The new fishing year begins March 1.  Once the boats start to bring in heavy landing (in the next two weeks) we are hoping that will drive the price down a little, but we have to wait to see.

Imported scallops countries:

China - This “all aquaculture” harvest is expected to generally produce less overall scallops than last year, and expect the major size to be a 30/40 for Sea Scallops and smaller bay’s.  

Japan - Not a great deal different from last year! Expect to see smaller 10/20’s start to enter our markets within the net few weeks.  This will be sooner than normal.  Because the US market will be aggressively looking for larger scallops from anywhere!  

Canada -  We are observing smaller meats coming out of our neighbors from the north.  Current landings reflect a 28-32ct scallop.

Buy often, and look to create opportunities on the smaller sizes.  That’s where the value will be.
Expect higher prices for larger sizes. There will be a great deal of interest, from all over the world.

Scallop Facts: 
Scientific Name: Pecten Yessoensis. 
Common names are the Japanese Scallop, Russian Scallop, Yesso Scallop, Jumbo Scallops, Hokkaido Scallops.
Sizes: U/10 per pound.    Ave Size 7 ct  They grow to their full potential of 4 inches, 10 cm in diameter, in 1 year.
Product Specifications: White to creamy in color.  Natural – Untreated (Dry).  
Frozen meats usually sold IQF in 10 kg, 2 kg and 5-Lb bags and assorted retail as well as 5 lb blocks.
The Primary sources are Russia and Japan.  Sea Scallops are produced in large quantities on Japan’s island of Hokkaido, and some smaller volumes from Russia.

Pork
Nothing to report at this time. 

Beef 
Nothing to report at this time. 

Chicken
Nothing to report at this time. 

Turkey
Nothing to report at this time. 

Cheese
Nothing to report at this time. 

Butter 
Nothing to report at this time.