Fillet exports take off in a market overflowing with “prodfish”

Large buyers of whole fish hoard fillets.

Heavy quality problems in most of the first half of the year, linked to winter sores and jellyfish attacks, have resulted in extensive quantities of downgraded fish. Earlier this week, it became known that nearly half of Mowi’s salmon in the first week of April were classified as “production fish”, fish that have injuries and wounds.

Mowi is by no means the only breeder with this problem.

“Production fish” must be corrected before it can be exported. In practice, this means that you cut the skin off the fish and make fillets. Producers of fillet lines, such as BAADER and Marel, inform iLaks of strong demand this spring.

Jump
This also shows in the export of fresh fillets.

So far this year, Norway has exported 53,662 tonnes of fresh salmon fillets. This is an increase of a formidable 29.1 per cent compared to the same period in 2023, export statistics from Norway’s Seafood Council show.

The largest buyer of fresh fillets is the USA, which has secured 11,363 tonnes. The US is a fillet market, built up by Chile, and air-borne fish travels easily.

But countries that normally prefer whole fish have also seen a sharp increase in fillets recently.

Sixfold
Storgrossist Poland, for example, has bought 9,737 tonnes of fresh fillet this year – an increase of 80.1 per cent. Another major buyer of salmon, Spain, has imported 2,918 tonnes of salmon fillets, which means an increase of 57.4 per cent. The Netherlands, which has a significant domestic processing industry, has nearly sixfold its fillet imports – to 3,331 tonnes.

While fillet exports are skyrocketing, overall salmon exports are showing a decline.

As of week 18, Norway has exported 388,461 tonnes of farmed salmon. This is a decrease from 413,383 tonnes at the same time last year.