Pollock Surimi Production to Fall by 10 Per Cent

This makes it almost certain that the final production will suffer a sizable year-on-year slide the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said.

Contrary to initial local industry projections to achieve surimi output in the order of 90 000 tonnes during the season, the pace of production slowed down in October due to such diverse factors as the northward movement of fishing grounds, stormy weather conditions and lacklustre harvests.

If the 90,000 tonne goal cannot be achieved, production could decline further to 12-13 per cent, FAO forecasters estimate.

On the assumption that 90,000 tonnes are produced in “B” season, the total production of (early months of the year) and seasons combined would most likely come to slightly below 160,000 tonnes, down by about 10 per cent from 178,000 tonnes in the preceding year.

Industry sources point out, however, that the officially announced DAP pollock production figures may not necessarily match with the actual production volume, so official figures should rather be taken only as one of the indicators.