Halibut fishery underway, prices expected to rise

The Pacific halibut fishery gets underway on March 17 and if the dynamic of supply and demand holds true, there will be an upward push on prices.

The coast wide halibut catch was reduced by more than 18% this year to 33.5 million pounds, following a 19% cut to the catch last year. Alaska’s share of the harvest is 25.5 million pounds. That will be shared by roughly 2,200 Alaska longliners who hold quota shares of the halibut catch.

fresh halibut of the season will undoubtedly fetch over $6/lb at major ports. The average price for halibut during the eight month fishery in 2011 was a whopping $6....