Whitefish

Alaska pollock block, surimi production tumbles as outbreaks disrupt both harvesting and processing

Raw material harvests for all three major frozen pollock forms produced from the US fishery are down sharply from the same time last year, according to the latest figures.

COVID is taking its toll on Alaska pollock processing operations this year.
COVID is taking its toll on Alaska pollock processing operations this year.Foto: Shutterstock
Major outbreaks at some of the world's largest Alaska-based processors in recent weeks are making it challenging to process key frozen product forms despite some of the companies hit by COVID outbreaks restarting production, several Alaska pollock producers confirmed with IntraFish.
Recent COVID outbreaks at major processing operations, including at Nippon Suisan Kaisha's (Nissui) UniSea, Maruha Nichiro-owned Alyeska Seafoods and Trident Seafoods, have caused disruptions in the production of critical product forms used by European frozen foods producers and fast food giants, among other key customers.
While some plants that temporarily shut down are once again processing -- UniSea's Unalaska plant reopened Feb. 1 after being shut down for nearly one month -- they're still not operating at 100-percent capacity as producers continue to experience a worker shortage due to COVID cases.
"We are taking deliveries, but we’re far from normal," one executive with a shoreside Alaska processing plant told IntraFish.

Deep declines in key products

The disruptions bear out in the latest production statistics. Inshore Bering Sea processors have produced around 8 percent of the total quota allotted to them for this year's A season. Through Feb. 6, they have taken on 21,913 metric tons of pollock, a nearly 38 percent decrease compared to the same fishing period for last year.

Catcher-processor vessels are seeing a nearly 51 percent decline catches this A season compared to last year's. Two of the major catcher-processors that target the fishery, both owned by Trident Seafoods, were delayed due to outbreaks on board.
Trident is continuing to monitor cases at its Akutan plant following a major outbreak, and is optimistic of a reopening in the near future, though no date has been set.

“We will continue testing every 2-3 days until we are confident that the virus has been eradicated from our facility. Test results will drive our restart date, expected to be announced soon with continued diligence,' Stefanie Moreland, Trident's vice president of government relations, said Friday.

The company said in early February it was shifting its processing capacity to its other facilities, including plants in St. Paul, Kodiak and Sand Point, and the M/V Independence.

Raw material harvests for all three major frozen pollock forms produced from the US fishery are coming in much lower compared to the previous year: Surimi production was around 52 percent lower through Feb. 6 than for 2019's A season; deep-skinned fillet output was down nearly 65 percent; and pinbone-out (PBO) fillet production is nearly 28 percent behind last year.

The fishing season for catcher-processors from Seattle was also delayed this year as companies did not want to force employees to quarantine during the holidays.

While Jan. 20 was the official start day for the season, catcher processors did not start fishing until around Jan. 25, according to an executive with a major at-sea processing company.

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Published 17 February 2021, 07:51Updated 17 February 2021, 18:41
UniSeaTrident SeafoodsAlaska pollockMaruha NichiroNippon Suisan Kaisha (Nissui)