Spring 2024 Market Report

Frozen Market

SNOW CRAB

The 2024 Snow crab season is underway, and the market is very turbulent right now. All fishing zones are being fished as of this week. Prices are firm and rising at this point, but we hope that when product starts landing in Newfoundland, the 4+ and 5/8+ price will even out and possibly even soften. Expect prices to remain firm to rising on 8+ and larger clusters as those are primarily landed in the Gulf of St. Laurence and that area’s quota was cut this year. Reach out to your OB salesperson if you’d like to lock inventory.

Canadian Snow Crab Quote 2023-2024: 

DUNGENESS CRAB

The Dungeness market is holding firm. Fishing has slowed down, and prices are remaining strong. Product will tighten up in advance of the Alaskan season which doesn’t open for another 2 months.

KING CRAB

Russian Golden and Red King crab legs are pretty much all sold. Due to the ongoing conflict in the Ukraine, the US is not allowing importation of any Russian seafood so there is no replacement for the Russian crab.

Alaskan Red and Golden Crab is selling quicky. Expect shortages on those items as well. Norwegian King crab is starting to come in but the quotas were cut and the volume will not be enough to cover the loss of the Russian supply.

Recommendation – Prices will continue to rise. If King Crab is a “must” for your menu, look at locking in product now.

SHRIMP

Import Shrimp– Prices are firming due to difficult replacement situations overseas. Demand in the US is increasing, and shipping delays are creating spot-inventory holes. Replacement opportunities will remain limited until April.

Market Information

The market for aquaculture shrimp is firm in the US. Overseas, replacement prices are strengthening due to a shortage of raw material during the off-production season, particularly on larger sizes (21/25 and larger)

- White Shrimp – Shrimp pricing is steady to firm. Replacement overseas is difficult, with packers willing to hold onto inventory to get higher prices. Shipping difficulties are creating inventory holes.

- Black Tiger Shrimp – India placed a renewed focus on black tiger production to avoid mortality issues with white shrimp farming. Pricing trends are consistent with white shrimp, as availability is scarce overseas.

DOMESTIC SHRIMP – Inventories of wild-caught domestic shrimp are adequate to supply demand, although a lack of fishing effort and a USDA seafood bid have created some strength in the market. Prices remain near all-time lows.

Market Information

Brown Headless Shrimp – Prices are firm, and inventory limited on 13/15. 16/20 and 21/25 and smaller count are firming due to a lack of fishing effort and dwindling inventories.

White Headless Shrimp – Prices are near historic lows on all white headless sizes. Boats have stopped fishing due to the low shrimp prices, so we are seeing stability at current low levels. Inventories are dwindling on 10/15 and 16/20 count headless white shrimp, resulting in some price increases.

LOBSTER

Canadian Lobster – prices have firmed up and inventories are low on Canadian lobster tails and lobster meat. There is little to no CK meat available and what is available is $$$. Expect product

to remain tight and prices to keep rising until new season product arrives in mid to late May.

Caribbean (Warm Water) lobster tails – the season ended in February, but catches have been down. Between that and shortages on Canadian tails, prices are rising, and availability is tight on some sizes. Small tails are in short supply.

Lobster Tails from the Southern Hemisphere

Western Aussies primarily get sold to China / Singapore at top dollar. The US market kind of gets the leftovers. We have product slowly rolling in and the market will remain firm for the foreseeable future. If your customers need larger sized ‘cold water’ tails this is where they’ll come from. Now, most of the available stock is limited to the 6/7 & 7/8 grading. The 8/10's and larger won't show up in any significant quantities for another few weeks. This is due primarily to the boats fishing in shallow waters at the beginning of the season and then, as additional areas open up, fishing picks up in the deeper areas where the larger lobsters are found.

South African - also a premium product where supply seems to always be short. Very small (3oz) to larger sizes (10oz+) are less than 2% of

production. This market will remain firm.

SMOKED FISH

Ocean Beauty has a full line of cold and hot smoked items for your Passover needs. Our Icy Point Cold Smoked Atlantic Salmon sides are packed 2/3# sides and available to order by the piece. Hot Smoked Sablefish Nuggets will add a different twist to your special events. See your Ocean Beauty sales rep for pricing and availability on all items.

Fresh Market

Salmon

The Chilean Salmon market has stabilized a bit. Harvest volumes from Chile are decreasing and high dollar returns from Brazil are causing exports to flow there instead to the US. These factors would normally be causing Chilean fillet prices to rise. However, demand here in the US remains dull and getting softer. Additionally, dull demand in Canada is forcing Canada to continue to send record volumes of fish south into the US. Canada is trying to raise their prices but market pressures between the producers is holding their average prices low.

I am forecasting these current market forces to remain in play for May with one exception: the delta in prices between 2-3s and 3-4s is going to increase. Average harvest size in Chile is down and unfortunately it is also down in Canada and Norway. Worse any big fish available in Chile are worth much more in Brazil then in the US (think the equivalent of $8 -$9.00/lb. US for fillets) so Chile’s big fish are swimming due East. The lack of available 3-4 D Trim is creating a lack of 2-3 E Trim in the market as well. This lack of E Trim supply will get worse in May for sure as the onset of winter will make for healthier fish and therefore less fillets needing to be skinned for aesthetic reasons.

Sockeye and Copper River Salmon 2024

The first announcement for the Copper River District will be issued between May 1 and May 8. The Copper River In River Run Goal (IRRG) cannot yet be calculated but will be included in the first fishery advisory announcement. 2024 Prince William Sound and Copper River Salmon Forecast Forecasts of total run were calculated for Copper River Chinook salmon, Copper River wild sockeye salmon, Gulkana Hatchery sockeye salmon, Coghill Lake sockeye salmon, and for wild Prince William Sound (PWS) pink and chum  salmon. Prince William Sound Aquaculture Corporation and Valdez Fisheries Development Association provide additional forecasts for hatchery-specific stocks. The categorical ranges of total run strength (Table 1) were formulated for each stock from the 20th, 40th, 60th, and 

80th percentiles of the recent 10 years (2014-2023 for Chinook, chum, and sockeye salmon and 2004-2022 even years for pink salmon) and are shown in Table 2. Salmon forecasts are inherently uncertain and are primarily used to gauge the general magnitude of expected runs and set early-season harvest management strategy. In 2024, the department will continue to manage PWS and Copper River area commercial salmon fisheries in season based primarily on the strength of salmon abundance indices including sonar counts, weir passage, aerial escapement surveys, and fishery performance data.

Seasonal Fresh – Live Spot Prawns are coming to market at record prices, expect price to be high and remain strong through the season. Live Dungeness has been strong all season and prices have leveled off but still firm for limited availability. Westcoast Spiny Lobsters are still in season with most sizes available in smaller then 2# but prices are still firm with current inventory. Stone Crabs are still pumping with costs still remaining the same, not much price movement here. Crawfish continues to price drop and better costing for consumers who are looking to be in play here, limited availability for larger graded sizes. Soft shells are starting with early product availability out of Georgia/Carolina area, expect this to dry up by end of the month then about a two-week gap before we see more available out of the Maryland area. The current supply is coming in from the Carolinas and reported to be barely adequate, leading to a large range in pricing. Sizing is primarily jumbo and primes

Oysters – Seeing consistent availability on most East Coast oysters farmed below New York, we have many direct to farm relationships throughout Cape Cod, Mass, Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina, and Louisiana. So, we will be able to source oysters 52 weeks a year. PEI continues to be tight with variety and this should improve as we approach the summer months. Few prices may increase as spring and summer 2024 continue but most will be consistent throughout the spring and into Summer. We also are offering a couple unique oysters (Island Creek Duxbury Oysters, Madhouse Oysters Maryland, Low Country Oysters South Carolina) with more varieties becoming available in May, ask your rep for more details. 

Gulf Oysters: Texas Park and Wildlife has opened zone 29 & 30 and producing some very nice half shells.

Live Lobster: The undertone of the live market remains unsettled but we are seeing some early relief compared to earlier in the year where we seen high costs across the board. Prices are correcting and getting more in average range again to add back to the menu… time to start polishing off those claw crackers \ud83d\ude0a

Shellfish: Mussels out of PEI are consistent with price and availability with improved meat fill as the winter is finally over, and these are growing fast. Clams are steady on cost and supply as we have a direct to farm relationship on littlenecks. Razor clams, manilla clams and Quahogs have been available and seem to be steady for the rest of the month.

Gulf Fresh Fish: Snappers & Snappers... these are readily available as well as some by catch species. Expect to see Porgy’s, Triggers coming to market in the next few weeks. Groupers are starting to come into play as well. . These tend to go for a premium compared to the imported market, but these are great high quality local fish. Amberjacks are closed until May 1^st.

East Coast Fresh: Flukes’ costs are starting to come down and more availability across all sizes. Porgy & Scups supply picked up a little out of NJ and are expected to have availability at a great cost for the next month or more. Hake, haddock, and monk fillets are firm with plenty of supply. Price increases continue to be primarily supply-driven, given the overall low level of activity in the market which is typical for this time of year.

Pacific Baja Fish: Fish are starting to come to market more as the weather changes, Some Groupers varieties are coming to market and prices are firm because of limited availability. Flounders should be in good supply for next few weeks with pricing being firm. By catch of Opah, Mako Shark and snappers are going to be available but not plentiful, so when it comes to market, jump on it because it won’t last. Limited catches of Kingklip and yellowtail are starting to become available but in limited sizes. Expect with the warmer water coming from the south that many species will be available at great prices for consumerSnapperss and great opportunity with fillet costs. Expect to start seeing Golden and Silver Corvina, White Seabass, Vermillion Rockfish, Lane snappers etc. Prices are very attractive and steady and will only get better as more availability comes to the market.

Exotic Fresh Fish: Sporadic availability on most pelagic. Mahi is starting to tighten up and costs are correcting from earlier in the year. Sword is still high and not seeing any relief from either coast yet which should change as we approach may. Good opportunity for focus on fresh specials. Hawaiian Tunas continue to be a buyers’ market as limited demand on the islands for domestic fish driven by low tourism. Great time to feature Bigeye on the menu as a Hawaiian fish special.

Icelandic Season Fish: Cod, Haddock and Pollock are in plentiful supplies. Artic Char is back and available for next couple of weeks. Wolffish will be starting to become more available by the end of the month and into May and costing should see some relief in the peak season, so this is a great special fish option and a price steal.

Farmed Fresh Fish: Plenty of options available and more coming to the market. Great quality, consistent pricing and sizing and great options for Menu Features … we will be offering Domestic Farmed Hybrid Stripe Bass, Redfish, Barramundi. Mexico farmed Kampachi, snappers, stripe bass and Ranched Bluefin. Cobia, Redfish, Branzino, Ocean Trout, Artic Char and the list goes on for the many farmed great options. These prices are all costs you can pretty much lock in for month long pricing promotions. Ask your rep for more details.

Halibut: The Pacific Halibut commercial catch limit is down 4.57% for the 2024 season. Fishing surveys conducted by IPHC resulted in a reduced WPUE (weight per unit effort), with the fish being smaller, and less abundant. Additionally, with the exception of the 2012-year class, younger Halibut reaching legal catch size has remained low. Considering these two factors the IPHC is taking a cautious approach to the 2024 Pacific Halibut quota to ensure a sustainable and healthy fishery for years to come.

The season this year will run from March 15th to December 7th.

Fresh Farmed Trout / Tilapia: Tilapia Market has tightened up due to growth cycle and demand.

Live Crawfish: Weather has been up and down, but we are finally seeing some Live in the market. Farmers are reporting the size of the crawfish are small /medium with prices for remain high.

Local Market favorites: starting to see much more snappers in the market as well as Galveston tilefish, flounders and by catch. Yellow edge Groupers should be coming to the market soon. Also, some local farm favorites with catfish, Redfish and Stripe Bass to name a few.