The Togiak sac roe herring fishery used to draw hundreds of fishermen. “It was like a gold rush,” said Frank Woods. But as the market for roe has shrunk, the remote fishery has become financially unfeasible.
Processing companies in Alaska primarily sell herring to Japan, which used to have a big market for the roe. But as Japanese tastes shifted, that market shrank, and the price for herring dropped.
Examining European fisheries in the North Atlantic, Schactler found that fleets fish for herring throughout the year, so processors get a lot of different products based on when the fish are caught, unlike in Alaska, where most fisheries target runs during the spring spawning season. Among the key findings, it reported that some customers will pay more for specific products, like fish with a certain percentage of fat.
Schactler said in order to market herring successfully, the American fishing industry needs to figure out a new way to sell it. But he said so far, they haven’t seen strong interest in doing so. And there aresome key differences between herring fisheries in Alaska and in the Atlantic. For one, the European fisheries are closer to a big slice of their market than Alaska processors, which have to ship fish much further away. And he said herring fisheries in the North Atlantic are bigger.
And even in Europe, the drive for herring has declined, as the customer base has aged. One expert said, “the challenge, which we are facing very soon, is that the herring eating population will die out.” So companies are trying to get younger people to be more enthusiastic about herring, like a Danish Others say the demand is there in Eastern Europe, where Poland has successfully marketed herring as a snack food.
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