--- A Major producer in the United States has reported that more than 1000 metric tonnes of Pacific Hake will be unable to ship to Russia due to the recent import bans.

Other countries are bidding low for the inventories of Pacific Hake but packers aren’t taking the lower bid, opting to keep the fish domestic instead.

The processed Hake is now destined for freezers and is plugging up major cold storages on the Pacific Northwest, namely Seattle, Vancouver, and Oregon.

With limited freezer space, Salmon processors are being forced to market fresh sockeye instead. For the consumer, this translates to rapid price reductions.

We are hearing that the price is dropping almost every hour.

The USA exported more than 9.2 million pounds of Pacific Hake last year. The Russian import bans began a couple of weeks ago at the beginning of August and are projected to last for a year.

The bans will definitely have a strong impact on the US export market.

--- Now for a look at the upcoming Puget Sound Chum Salmon Fishery.

The Chums begin to show up towards the end of September and beginning of October, but we are beginning to hear season forecasts.

The Washington Department of Fisheries and Wildlife has forecasted a return of almost 1.1 million fish in the Fall Chum run. About 450,000 of this forecast will come from the hatchery.

The USA has a large market for fresh Chum Salmon, and last year most of the Alaskan fish sold as fresh. Last season's fresh price was $1.85 per LB USD - this year is forecasted to be over 20 percent higher at $2.25 per LB.

We are being told that the 2014 run will mirror 2010 prices. Some vendors are predicting a poor chum season this year, claiming that it is an "off year", unlike last year.

The 2013 fall Puget Sound and Hood canal fishing neared record levels. The Pre season estimate was for 324,000 fish and by early November more than double that number was harvested.

Hopefully the Puget Sound Fishery will allow for some price relief on the heated Chum Salmon market. The limited freezer space may also cause difficulty for this market, similar to sockeye.

We will keep you updated as we hear more.

 

---Thanks for joining me for the Tradex Foods "3-Minute Market Insight" This is Rob Reierson - “BUY SMART” and “EAT MORE SEAFOOD”

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