Currently, the amount of Pollock caught is markedly lower, with the catch only reaching just over 50,000 metric tonnes, trailing by about 60 percent from the previous year's figure of around 130,000 metric tonnes by this time.

Regarding the Total Allowable Catch (TAC), the National Marine Fisheries Service has adjusted the Pollock TAC for 2024 to 1.495 million metric tonnes. This represents an increase from the previous year and is significantly higher than in 2022. It's noteworthy that Alaska typically manages to catch its full Pollock TAC allocation.

By way of comparison, Russia's Pollock TAC for 2024 stands at 2.285 million metric tonnes, with around 1.8 million metric tonnes actually harvested in 2023 from a TAC of 2.059 million metric tonnes.



Turning to Alaskan Pacific Cod, the current catch is also below expectations, with just over 12,000 metric tonnes landed, which is about 50 percent less than the previous year's catch of about 24,000 metric tonnes at the same juncture.

For 2024, the Pacific Cod TAC for Alaska has seen an increase to 179,000 metric tonnes. Last year, the harvest was 145,000 metric tonnes from a TAC of 168,000 metric tonnes. Historically, Alaska has consistently harvested at least 90% of its Pacific Cod TAC.

Moving onto market conditions, it would be an understatement to label it as just complicated, but at the same time, it is still too early to know for sure how things will play out.

To provide an overview of developments: the United States has imposed a ban on Russian-origin Cod and Pollock, including Salmon and Crab as well.

Prices on Russian Pollock continue to plummet, reaching their lowest levels in 15 years. Concurrently, Alaskan Cod and Pollock continue to experience upward price pressure.



Additionally, several significant Alaskan processing plants have either temporarily or permanently closed, which could severely impact processing capacity.

On the other hand, Chinese plants are said to be preparing to increase their purchases of US raw material could lead to a scarcity of resources for the US domestic market.

We should have some more clarity of the situation in late February as Chinese Plants reopen from Chinese New Year closures.

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