Pacific whiting, or hake, fishing companies in the United States and Canada will have more fish to catch this year. The allocations were finalized June 2.
The Pacific whiting treaty Joint Management Committee (JMC), which recommends the full coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) for both the United States and Canada, agreed on a 2022 coastwide total allowable catch (TAC) of 545,000 metric tons this year, up 14.8 percent from last year.
After two years of the US failing to reach an agreement with Canada, this year there were no issues with a "full and easy agreement on a coastwide TAC," NOAA Fishery Scientist Colin Sayre told IntraFish.
The US allocation of the TAC is set at 402,646 metric tons for the 2022 season, and the Canada allocation of TAC is set at 142,354, both up 9 percent from last year.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is recommending the US commercial harvest guideline across the catcher-processor, mothership co-op and shore-based individual fishing quota (IFQ) programs be set 331,433 metric tons.
The 2022 proposed harvest guideline of 331,433 metric tons break down among the US sectors this way:
- Catcher/processor co-op program: 112,687 metric tons
- Mothership co-op program: 79,544 metric tons
- Shorebased IFQ program: 139,202 metric tons
The final rule also established the domestic 2022 harvest specifications for the tribal allocation of the Pacific whiting fishery at 70,462 metric tons.
The major seafood companies operating in the fishery include American Seafoods, Arctic Storm, Glacier Fish, Aleutian Spray Fisheries, Phoenix Processor Limited Partnership and Trident Seafoods.
The higher allowable catch comes during a period of uncertainty on global whitefish markets, with inflation driving up prices for key species such as Alaska pollock and Atlantic cod, COVID outbreaks in China disrupting processing, and Russian exports facing sanctions related to its invasion of Ukraine.
