Over the next 3 weeks, fishermen are likely to harvest a remaining 1.3 to 3 million pounds of Pacific Halibut before the season closes.

In the latest catch report from mid-November, 86 percent of the fishery limits (or 25.6 million pounds) had already been harvested.

While this year's fishery limits were 10 percent lower than in 2022, next year’s catch limit won’t be confirmed until January 26th. However, we can expect a sneak peak into what it might be when the International Pacific Halibut Commission releases their stock projections and harvest decision table for the upcoming season in the forthcoming weeks.

The IPHC is officially in its 100th year of managing Pacific Halibut in Canada and the US, and with that, the 100th Annual IPHC Meeting (where the New Fishery Limit is announced) will be held in Anchorage Alaska from January 22 to 26, 2024 at The Hotel Captain Cook.



Moving onto the marketplace, we are still seeing some of the lowest pricing on Pacific Halibut since the Pandemic lockdowns of 2020.

On our TradexLIVE Seafood Offers Portal, Single and Twice Frozen Halibut fletches can be seen around the low $13 to mid $14 range, while our last H&G Pacific Halibut offer was in the low $8 range.

With the Halibut season soon coming to a close, and not reopening until March of next year, our recommendation is that you may want to strongly consider securing inventory for your future Halibut needs.

Depending on market conditions and processor capabilities, frozen Halibut could get put into cold storage until prices tick back up.

These anticipated reductions in Pacific Cod catch for the next year will reflect on the H&G and value-added market.

Contact Tradex Foods for any and all of your Halibut requirements.



To conclude, here are some insights on Russian Pacific Halibut.

While Russian Halibut is predominantly caught as bycatch, detailed information about its fishery remains largely undisclosed. However, given that Halibut is not a staple in the diets of Russia or China, and considering that Chinese production largely relies on Russian Halibut, a significant portion of the Halibut production from both Russia and China is intended for the North American market. This market dynamic allows us to estimate the volume of Russian Halibut harvest using US import data.

In 2021, the US imported about 3.2 million pounds of Halibut products from Russia and China. It's noteworthy, however, that since the onset of the war conflicts, the US imports of Halibut from these countries have significantly decreased.



--- If you are not already, be sure to subscribe to our Weekly Seafood News Update using the signup form below.