Haddock supplies tipped to be tight

ALTHOUGH supplies of haddock from Norway and Iceland during the first few months of this year have been generally higher than in 2014, fish buyers in the UK and Europe can expect a tightening of supplies in the coming weeks.
This is the view of Marko Partners, specialist consultants in the international seafood industry, which says that almost 90 per cent of the Icelandic haddock quota for the current fishing year has now been used up.
The Marko newsletter says haddock landings in Norway up to the 18th week of this year were at 6.200 tonnes higher than for the same period last year.
Even though overall supplies of haddock from Iceland and Norway have been higher than in 2014 for the first four months, the average prices have remained high and above the price levels in 2014.
The report adds: ‘It is unlikely that the supplies of haddock from Iceland will remain above the 2014 levels due to the fact that the large proportion of the haddock quota has already been utilised.
‘The haddock quota utilisation ratio in Norway currently stands at around 36 per cent. The remaining 64 per cent of the quota will be caught during the rest of the year.
‘Should the distribution of the haddock catch be similar to 2014 we would expect the monthly landings for the remainder of the year to be nearly 1.000 tonnes less per month in Norway.
‘The constrained supplies of haddock are therefore likely to maintain high prices for the next months.
‘The Icelandic quota will, however, be announced in the summer and increased supplies for haddock from Iceland due to the healthy state of the stock are a possibility.’