Credit: Bill Sullivan
Alaskans are long accustomed to seeing farmed Atlantic salmon on supermarket shelves – but farmed Atlantic halibut is less familiar.
Earlier this year fresh, farmed halibut from Norway was spotted at a Costco near Seattle selling for $9.99 a pound.
Besides Norway, research shows that halibut also is farmed in Canada, Iceland and Scotland. It began in the 1980s but has shown slow but steady outputs only over the past five years or so.
Total global production so far is only about 4.4 million pounds, of which over 3.5 million pounds come from three farms in Norway.
Farming halibut is very time consuming and complex which is why it’s being done by only a few growers. Establishing good broodstock takes up to 10 years and it takes four to five years to reach a market size of about 11 pounds. The halibut are grown out in either sea cages or big land based facilities.
Imports of farmed halibut might be a drop in the bucket, but trade data show the U.S. is spending millions of dollars on halibut from other countries.
For all of 2019 through February of this year, the U.S. bought nearly 2 million pounds from Norway at a cost of over $10.5 million.
And while halibut landings have decreased for Alaska fishermen and prices have plummeted into the three dollar range, U.S. purchases of halibut from Canada have soared.
For last year through this February, halibut imports to the U.S. mostly from eastern Canada and in various product forms topped 15.3 million pounds for which the U.S. paid nearly $107 million.
So much for buying American!
4-16-20 HOMER 4.00/4.25/4.50
3-27-20 JUNEAU 4.00/4/40
3-19-20 KODIAK 3.25/3.50/4.00
4-24-20 SEWARD 3.00 STRAIGHT
4-14-20 SITKA 3.75 STRAIGHT
4-22-20 YAKUTAT 3.75 STRAIGHT
3-19-20 WRANGELL 3.50 STRAIGHT
National Marine Fisheries Service
Fisheries Statistics and Economics Division
| Month | Country | Product Name | Kilos | Dollars |
| 2019 | ||||
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 220,824 | 3,311,167 |
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 10,510 | 107,418 |
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 1,105 | 25,526 |
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 6,170 | 77,414 |
| Subtotal: February | 238,609 | 3,521,525 | ||
| March | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 303,700 | 5,152,481 |
| March | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 10,493 | 122,600 |
| March | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 18,852 | 420,633 |
| March | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 133,908 | 2,495,135 |
| March | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 860 | 17,086 |
| Subtotal: March | 467,813 | 8,207,935 | ||
| April | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 289,779 | 4,882,953 |
| April | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 8,255 | 71,304 |
| April | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 3,096 | 59,665 |
| April | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 184,570 | 3,137,556 |
| Subtotal: April | 485,700 | 8,151,478 | ||
| May | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 385,897 | 6,591,906 |
| May | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 2,304 | 15,238 |
| May | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 3,146 | 69,350 |
| May | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 129,187 | 2,179,168 |
| Subtotal: May | 520,534 | 8,855,662 | ||
| June | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 597,337 | 9,529,102 |
| June | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 36,710 | 332,776 |
| June | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 330 | 7,997 |
| June | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 197,698 | 3,258,451 |
| Subtotal: June | 832,075 | 13,128,326 | ||
| July | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 571,536 | 8,797,533 |
| July | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 59,435 | 374,224 |
| July | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 1,772 | 42,216 |
| July | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 300,168 | 4,802,049 |
| July | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 330 | 5,816 |
| Subtotal: July | 933,241 | 14,021,838 | ||
| August | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 480,069 | 7,904,500 |
| August | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 74,433 | 528,467 |
| August | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 342 | 8,608 |
| August | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 239,989 | 4,023,350 |
| Subtotal: August | 794,833 | 12,464,925 | ||
| September | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 471,779 | 7,697,679 |
| September | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 43,851 | 320,106 |
| September | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 4,177 | 104,753 |
| September | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 152,695 | 2,538,184 |
| September | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 1,461 | 8,765 |
| Subtotal: September | 673,963 | 10,669,487 | ||
| October | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 441,562 | 7,244,524 |
| October | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 19,547 | 129,363 |
| October | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 1,361 | 26,206 |
| October | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 124,829 | 2,238,135 |
| October | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 3,792 | 37,611 |
| Subtotal: October | 591,091 | 9,675,839 | ||
| November | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 162,097 | 2,623,519 |
| November | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 31,271 | 193,740 |
| November | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 17,020 | 318,665 |
| November | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FRESH | 94,071 | 1,606,814 |
| November | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 7,974 | 121,528 |
| Subtotal: November | 312,433 | 4,864,266 | ||
| December | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 88,000 | 1,392,043 |
| December | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 27,552 | 197,710 |
| December | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 11,021 | 183,162 |
| December | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 14,001 | 220,321 |
| Subtotal: December | 140,574 | 1,993,236 | ||
| Grand Total: February – December, 2019 | 5,990,866 | 95,554,517 | ||
| 2020 | ||||
| January | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 268,901 | 4,436,147 |
| January | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 1,092 | 9,628 |
| January | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 5,689 | 110,554 |
| January | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 15,811 | 242,638 |
| Subtotal: January | 291,493 | 4,798,967 | ||
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FRESH | 384,073 | 5,763,472 |
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT ATLANTIC FROZEN | 14,736 | 131,642 |
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT NSPF FILLET FROZEN | 11,605 | 114,710 |
| February | CANADA | FLATFISH HALIBUT PACIFIC FROZEN | 33,825 | 543,813 |
| Subtotal: February | 444,239 | 6,553,637 | ||
| Grand Total: January – February, 2020 | 735,732 | 11,352,604 | ||
