Blustery winds and high seas were set to put a damper on Alaska’s March 6 halibut opener, and prices were expected to be artificially high for skimpy landings of the season’s first fresh fish.
“That’s the question of the day,” said one Kodiak halibut buyer.
“It’s hard to say how it will shake out,” said Matt Moir, manager at Alaska Pacific Seafoods, one of Kodiak’s largest processing plants. “The weather forecast is not good and frozen inventory is low, but the market won’t sustain goofy prices. If it gets too high the market will shutdown.”
Talk on the waterfront pegged starting prices at Homer at around $5 a pound, but no word from elsewhere until deliveries start hitting the docks. Last year’s starting prices were in the $3 to $3.50 range, down more than $1 compared to the previous two years.
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