The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday issued an invitation for companies to bid on nearly 8 million pounds of frozen Alaska pollock fillets for distribution through federal food and nutrition assistance programs, putting the agency on track for a potentially record-setting year of pollock purchases.
The bid, when approved, could bring USDA’s fiscal year purchases of Alaska pollock to around 18.3 million pounds, worth close to $45 million, the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP) estimates. To date, USDA has awarded around $25 million to companies through the bids.
The bid will make this fiscal year the USDA’s second-highest for Alaska pollock purchases in the agency's history, according to GAPP.
The agency's largest purchase of Alaska pollock was in 2019, when it bought 32.7 million pounds.
The USDA said it will announce the bid winners Aug. 13, with deliveries to be made between October and December of this year to cities around the United States.
In May, the USDA made a major purchase of Alaska pollock, continuing an unprecedented run of federal seafood buying that continues to benefit the industry -- and a handful of US companies.
The May purchase of $70.9 million (€58.7 million), which included other seafood in addition to pollock, was the single largest purchase of seafood in USDA history.
The agency announced it would purchase around 5.9 million pounds of frozen Alaska pollock fillets and nuggets for $20.9 million (€17 million) from Seattle-based Trident Seafoods, the country's largest seafood company, and Massachusetts-based processor Channel Fish.
