There is a huge world demand for whitefish in the world. With diminishing supplies in many areas, reports Michel Drouin, the ease of stocks with North American producers has put them in a strong position. - The demand is there for north Atlantic saithe, South pacific hoki or pollack, and cod or whiting from Alaska and the North American west coasts. There is also good news for wild salmon.
It has been no surprise therefore that producers with stock have found themselves in a strong position when buyers are facing shortages of traditional whitefish supplies from the north Atlantic and the southern oceans.
North American suppliers were pleased and dismayed at the effect of this demand when customers were chasing supply contracts during the April Brussels' seafood fair. Many customers had to leave disappointed after discovering that supplies were short. ‘It was a rude wakening,’ for them one American was heard to comment.
Frozen out & going wild
Jock Bray, CEO of Port Fish in British Columbia, on the west coast of Canada, says that because South American and South African hake supplies are declining, there is a huge demand from eastern European and Russia for headed, gutted and tailed hake and fillets. The destinations for U.S. pollack blocks, from the Alaskan fishery, is the west European and Polish markets.
All is not happy on the Russian front however. Some American shipping companies are refusing to work the route because they say they are having trouble getting their refrigerated containers back from Russian ports. The locals hold on to them to use as cold storage facilities!
For salmon, it is the "wild" label which is helping the boom for suppliers in British Columbia and the US. Mel Donaldson, from Palomino foods in Seattle, Washington says that demand for "wild anything" has gone up.
“The word 'wild' to the Europeans is a major selling point,” Donalson says, adding that Alaska’s image is beneficial in this market. “The clear, glacial, unpolluted water of Alaska is something the European market is very much attracted to".
EU Regs
However, some suppliers say that European regulations make it harder to get product through the bureaucratic barriers. Grant Snell, general manager of Canada’s British Columbia Salmon marketing Council, says that he finds EU import regulations hamper the development of more seafood business between Canada and Europe, particularly processed seafood.
“They have much higher import tariffs on processed goods than on unprocessed fish and that is to protect their smoking and processing jobs and that is a shame because we would like to find markets for our value added products,” he says.
European traceability regulations are something North American importers have to watch, Snell said. “We always have to be conscious of that – it is not a unique speed bump, in that all countries are going to be going to [require] that, and in Canada we will be meeting that,” he says.
However, Snell suggest that the North Americans are now selling a product which is very different from what the European market has become accustomed to. “The biggest hurdle we have to overcome is that for the last decade they [Europe]have been dealing with large volumes of international commodity, from Norway, Chile and Scotland.” Snell says. “It is a problem because we are not looking for markets wanting high-volume, low-value product, We are looking for markets wanting lower-volume but higher-value product,” he says.
Snell adds that there is evidence that a certain share of the market is now recognising they must pay higher values for wild Pacific salmon and this is reflected in a growing number of such buyers.
Snell agrees with Donaldson on the growing attraction to consumers of wild salmon products from North America. He says that after 'wild' the next most important word is 'natural' and this is one of the attributes which discriminating buyers want in their wild salmon -- that it is 'natural' food.
