After a long-term decline in wild harvests, there have been
some recent improvements and, in the short term, total
groundfish supplies are expected to increase slightly in 2012. Supplies of farmed whitefish, including pangasius and tilapia,
are not expected to grow substantially in the near future.
Cod prices are expected to climb somewhat, while Alaska
pollock prices will continue to decline.
Barents Sea cod stocks have improved significantly
and are the largest in decades. The 2012 quota is up 8
percent over 2011, to 750 000 tonnes. At the same time,
the haddock quota has increased by 5 percent, to 318 000
tonnes. However, other parts of the world have seen
reductions in quotas. The 2012 quota for eastern Bering
Sea Alaska pollock was reduced by 4 percent to 1.20 million
tonnes, and hake resources in South America appear to be
under strain.
Given the rich cod fisheries, Norwegian exporters had
a good 2011, with groundfish exports reaching USD 1.9
billion, a new record. The biggest increase was in exports of
frozen whole fish to China for further processing.
Chinas share of the EU market for whitefish fillets has
grown dramatically over the past decade, from 8 percent
of cod supplies to the EU in 2001 to 30 percent in 2011.
In the same period, Chinas share of Alaska pollock fillets
grew from 47 percent to 64 percent, and its share of the EU
market for haddock fillets increased from just 3 percent to
35 percent.
A closed season for hake was introduced during the
first quarter of 2012 in the UruguayArgentina Common
Fishing Zone in order to protect juvenile stocks. In Peru, the
government has imposed a strict management regime for
common hake, under which the 2012 fishing season will end
once the 8 600 tonne quota is reached.
Efforts to rebuild hoki stocks in New Zealand have had
positive results, and enabled an 8 percent increase of the
2012 hoki quota to 130 000 tonnes. Hoki exports are mainly aimed at regional markets such as Australia and Japan.
June 2012
