March 1, 2021 — A meteoric global rise of frozen Alaska pollock consumption during the course of 2020 could not make up for an overall decrease in pollock consumption by US consumers compared to the previous year.
That’s largely due to reduced imports as well as a smaller catch for domestic product during the year. Alaska pollock producers ended B season last year leaving nearly 65,000 fish in the water due to several challenging factors, including less-valuable fish sizes and a biomass widely dispersed across the grounds
While consumption declined by 11 percent in 2020 to 0.873 pounds per person from 2019 levels of 0.983 pounds per person, the overall US per capita consumption of pollock was still well above 2018’s level of 0.717 pounds per person, according to the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers’ (GAPP).
“Despite this slight decline in 2020, the jump in the percentage of domestically-caught fish makes it clear that US consumers are trying, loving and gravitating towards our Wild Alaska Pollock like never before,” said GAPP CEO Craig Morris.