Craig Shoemaker, manager of Seafood Producers Co-op processing plant in Sitka, informed that the average halibut being harvested by the co-op, which represents more than 500 commercial harvesters, is 40 pounds to 50 pounds. According to him the co-op is paying $4.44 a pound for fish 40 pounds and heavier, and $3.75 for smaller halibut. Alaska’s total commercial harvest tonnage for halibut and sablefish is account for less than 2 percent of the total. They typically account for up to 20 percent of total statewide value to harvesters.
It is fact that the International Pacific Halibut Commission has made significant cuts in the overall allowable harvest. The longline halibut fishery, which runs from March 8 through Nov. 15, harvested more than 5.5 million pounds, or 11 percent of the total allowable catch, through mid-April. It is said that longliners are allocated individual fishing quotas based on the total allowable harvest.
According to market analysts it’s still too early to tell whether this represents a significant change in the halibut market. Retail prices elsewhere in the Anchorage are something within $16.99 a pound for fillets, while one online processor also in Anchorage was offering halibut fillets for $19.95 a pound, plus shipping costs.
