Although this year’s season began one of the latest in recent years, it was only five days later than last year. By mid-April 2023, nearly 2.5 million pounds had been harvested, compared to just 1.89 million pounds so far this year.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint the exact cause of the shortfall, fewer active vessels and a sharply reduced fishery limit are top of mind. We do not believe current tariff tensions have impacted catch totals to date.

Nonetheless, the market is expected to see one of the lowest harvest volumes in decades due to the record-low fishery limit—up to 28% lower, or 11.5 million pounds less, when benchmarked against the highest recent harvest levels.



At most, the industry could see up to 23.79 million pounds of net weight halibut removals—and only if 100% of the quota is landed. For comparison, last year’s harvest totaled just 21.78 million pounds, representing only 75% of the available quota.

Pricing appears to be tracking classic supply-and-demand dynamics. April dock prices are already more than $1 per pound higher than the same period last year.

Our recommendation continues to be that you secure your fresh and future frozen halibut requirements now. Consumer demand for this premium product should remain steady, even amid economic headwinds.

As previously reported, on average 17 million pounds or 78% of Pacific halibut is harvested from Alaska, and 5 million pounds or 22% from Canada. Ongoing tariff tensions are expected to impact both the economics and market access of this species. Lastly, just to complete the global picture, it’s estimated that Russia harvest about 4 million pounds of Pacific halibut annually.



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