Pacific cod, for which the season opened in January, is being accepted in European markets as an alternative to its Atlantic cousin, and exports of cod species from the United States have increased accordingly, writes Juneau economist Chris McDowell in the latest Seafood Market Bulletin for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Association.

Harvesters and processors will be working to deliver an allowable catch of 574 million pounds of Pacific cod from federal and state fisheries. The Bering Sea Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska fisheries have a total allowable catch of 543 million pounds. State Pacific cod quotas have averaged just more than 31 million pounds since 2000. In fisheries around the state, the season depends on harvest rates and can last from the first of January through to the end of the year.

McDowell said trade statistics from the National Marine Fisheries Service reflect a noteworthy positive trend in exports of cod from the United States, with more than 169 million pounds of cod exported in the first 10 months of 2005.

"Although NMFS does not differentiate between Pacific and Atlantic cod for the purpose of trade statistics, Pacific cod dominates U.S. production, accounting for 95 percent of 2004 cod landings," McDowell said. "While exports were down from the same period in 2004, this nevertheless represents an increase of nearly 40 percent over the five-year period beginning in 2000."

The demand for Pacific stock is helped by Atlantic cod stocks in the United States and Canada continuing to suffer from serious biological shortages and corresponding limitations to commercial fisheries, McDowell said. Similarly, European fishery managers established total allowable catch levels in the end of December intended to reduce harvests in the European area by 15 percent in 2006, in response to cod stock declines in the region, he said.

In contrast, Alaska's cod stocks appear to be healthy. In fact, the Marine Stewardship Council, which certifies the sustainability of fisheries around the world, certified the Bering Sea freezer longline fishery as sustainable in 2005.

Export data reflect these trends, with the volume of cod moving into European markets increasing steadily in recent years, from 23 percent in the first 10 months of 2000, to 37 percent in the same period in 2005. Exports to China also increased, McDowell said.

Meanwhile, Japan's share of U.S. cod exports has fallen, from 47 percent to 24 percent in 2005, though data is not available to assess the possible re-export of China's processed products made from Alaska fish into Japanese markets.

Cod is one of many fishery resources that is seeing increased production effort from fish farmers. Worldwide farmed cod production grew more than 15-fold from 2000 to 2003, according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, to 5.6 million pounds, the last year for which worldwide data is available.

While this is a relatively small amount compared to the overall volume, the rate of growth for the industry, combined with continued funding and activity from private and public sources in countries such as Norway and Canada, means that farmed cod has the potential to develop over time into a serious marketplace competitor, McDowell said.