--- As we continue to wait for Russia's Halibut fishery to get underway, Alaska has had two consecutive weeks of strong Halibut landings. Just over 1.5 million pounds were landed in Alaska during the past two weeks, which we saw during the same time period in 2016 too. Fresh prices have been strong as of late, but we see room for a potential drop due to the recent spike in supply. Frozen inventories on 2016 H&G and fletches are still available, with prices on Fletches coming down a bit since the Fall. 1-3lb IQF Halibut fletches were in the mid-$14 range last week, coming down from the mid-to-high $15 range in November and December. --- The Russian Halibut fishery - produced in China and the Ukraine - typically caters to a different market than once frozen product processed in North America. Russian Halibut is harvested as bycatch at the moment, before the quota system begins in mid May. The Russian quota is slightly less than 5,000 metric tonnes, with the majority allocated to the Western Bering Sea - this is about half of the Total Allowable Catch for Alaska Halibut. The quota has been stable for many years, and pricing remains strong as raw materials have increased year-to-year. We spoke to Lou at Chang International, a regular importer of Russian halibut products, to elaborate on the state of Russian Raw Materials. [Interview] With Raw materials strengthened by about a dollar per kilogram year-to-year, Lou confirmed pricing on Russian Halibut Fletches produced in China to be between $13 and $15 per pound. Halibut fletches produced in the Ukraine are on the same level, at $13.25 / LB in Vancouver for chem-free IQF twice frozen fletches. We have seen price stability on twice frozen halibut throughout the last six months, a variance of about 50 or 75 cents per pound from single frozen fletches. Twice frozen inventories will continue to be sourced from Russian bycatch until mid-June - keep an eye out as we could see prices increase another 50 cents as supply has been short. --- To wrap things up, our TradexLIVE offer of the week is for Sinbad brand Haddock fillets. We have several sizes available in Boston at $2.60/ LB for Skinless fillets and $2.55/ LB for Skin-on. Click or tap the icon above to view this offer. ----Thank you for joining me for the Tradex Foods "3-Minute Market Insight" This is Robert Reierson - “BUY SMART” and “EAT MORE SEAFOOD"

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