Alaskan Leader Seafoods is working to have its miso black cod penetrate markets across the U.S., as the company works to leverage the growing available quota into a sustainable option for Alaska’s fishing fleet.
The company has been expanding the product in both retail and restaurant markets, capitalizing on the notoriety it obtained through winning two awards at the Alaska Symphony of Seafood in 2022. Alaskan Leader Seafoods Value-Added Programs President Keith Singleton told SeafoodSource at the 2024 Global Seafood Market Conference held from 23 to 25 January in Orlando, Florida, U.S.A. that an expanded market is essential to ensuring a robust fishing fleet.
Traditionally, Singleton said, much of the black cod supply was purchased by Japan, but in recent years, a strong American dollar coupled with a weak Japanese yen has reduced that market. While Japanese exporters are still earning big profits, companies selling in Japan are having trouble, according to Singleton.
“Up until just a few years ago, that was the primary market for wild Alaskan black cod,” Singleton said.
At the same time, as the market in Japan softened for the species, the quota started to increase – from 26 million pounds in 2019 to 62 million pounds in 2023. But, without a market that could pay for it, fishermen couldn’t afford to fish it.
“At the end of last year, the fleet tied up. Inflation is up, fuel prices are up, bait prices are up. It’s all a challenge,” Singleton said. “So, we needed to have a vessel to take this to the marketplace, and that’s where the miso black cod application came from – it’s a traditional, high-end, white-linen tablecloth, restaurant chain type of product.”
One of the biggest issues Alaskan Leader faced when developing the product ...
Photo by Chris Chase/SeafoodSource
