Newsline >>

Flounder/sole

Flatfish has become a good buy, thanks to strict conservation methods in New England

With the New England flatfish harvest bouncing back after years of strict conservation and an underfished Alaska resource, flounder has become a good buy.

In 1983, New England draggers landed a record 33,000 metric tons of yellowtail flounder. Since then, the most valuable flatfish fishery on the East Coast has gone steadily downhill, reaching a low of less than 2,000 metric tons in 1995.

Catches of North Atlantic flatfish off Canada have also headed south. In 1989, Canadian fishermen caught almost 50,000 metric tons of flatfish, compared to less than 15,000 metric tons this year.

Fishing off the West Coast hasn’t been much better. From 1990 to 2000, flatfish catches have declined from almost 30,000 metric tons to just 16,000 metric tons.

So whether you serve sole meunière or fried flounder in a basket, the supply has been a little tight lately. And expensive. The average wholesale price of yellowtail fillets, for example, has been $8 or higher.

But now there are some positive signs, at least on the East Coast, that things have changed. After almost five years of strict conservation measures, New England flatfish stocks are making a recovery, and good catches are driving prices down to more reasonable levels.

This spring and summer, you could pick up decent-quality fresh yellowtail fillets for less than $4 a pound from cutting houses in New Bedford and Boston.

And gray sole fillets, the finest  flatfish out of New England, tumbled from more than $12 a pound to about $6 much of the time.

The surge in New England flatfish landings can be attributed largely to the recovery of Georges Bank yellowtail stocks, Gulf of Maine gray sole (a.k.a. witch flounder) and southern New England winter flounder (a.k.a. blackback or lemon sole). Whether it’s seasonal closures, increased mesh sizes or fewer days at sea, fisheries managers are bringing the stocks back.

With East Coast flatfish landings recovering and prices easing, Alaska processors are finding it harder to market their H&G frozen flatfish to New England processors for refreshing. And Alaska processors have plenty of flatfish to sell.   

According to biologists, Alaska fishermen could catch a million tons of sole and flounder a year without stressing the resource. That compares with the 85,000 metric tons landed by New England fishermen in the early 1980s, during the heyday of overfishing.

But in reality, Alaska fishermen can’t really catch a million tons of flatfish. A 2-million-ton ecosystem limit on bottomfish catches in the Bering Sea and limits on halibut bycatch have kept catches of Alaska flatfish close to 150,000 to 200,000 metric tons for the past few years.

Still, that’s a lot of flatfish. More than 75 percent of Alaska’s flatfish catch consists of two species: yellowfin and rock sole, both of which are exported to markets in Asia. The yellowfin, most of which is landed in the summer when the cod fishery is closed, goes to China, where this small member of the flounder family (there are no true soles landed commercially in the United States) is reprocessed into frozen skinless, boneless fillets for the North American market.

Rock sole, on the other hand, is fished in the winter, when females are ripe with roe. Females are exported to Japan, where whole, roe-in rock sole is a supermarket staple. Males are exported to China. 

Alaska draggers also catch substantial quantities of flathead sole, some of which used to end up in New England for refreshing. But that market is “over,” says one Seattle trader. “They have all the local stuff they need.”

About 5,000 to 10,000 metric tons of rex sole are also caught each year in the Gulf of Alaska. Most of this production is sold whole to Asian restaurants in North America that pay a premium of between $1.50 and $2 a pound for whole fish.

While the Alaska flatfish resource remains underfished and New England stocks recover, flatfish catches off the West Coast continue to decline, especially catches of Pacific Dover sole, which accounts for more than half of the total West Coast flatfish catch.

The 2001 quota for Pacific Dover has been reduced another 20 percent, to approximately 7,500 metric tons, in 2001. That’s well below the 20,000 metric tons of Dover fishermen were catching in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Catches of petrale sole, the most sought-after of the West Coast flatfish species, have remained relatively stable in recent years at 2,000 to 2,500 metric tons. 

Supply outlook 

Conservation, it seems, pays. New England flatfish landings have increased every year since 1995, but don’t expect them to ever reach the lofty levels of the early 1980s. Landings of yellowtail, for example, increased from 2,000 metric tons in 1995 to almost 7,000 metric tons last year.

The way things are going, 2001 landings could exceed 10,000 metric tons, which would be the best catch in more than 10 years.

Catches of gray sole have been on less of a roller coaster. After reaching a peak of about 6,000 metric tons in 1983, gray sole landings have been in the 2,000- to 2,500-metric-ton range for the past 10 years. If fishing stays good this year, though, landings could exceed 3,000 metric tons for the first time since 1988.

After peaking in 1981 at more than 18,000 metric tons, New England winter flounder catches hit a low of 3,600 metric tons in 1994. Since then, landings have bounced back, reaching 5,800 metric tons last year, the biggest catch since 1992. As stocks continue to recover, landings could pass 10,000 metric tons in the next few years.

Catches of summer flounder (a.k.a. fluke) are also on the rise after bottoming out at 3,900 metric tons in 1997. The 2001 summer flounder quota was set at 4,700 metric tons, almost half of which was given to Virginia and North Carolina fishermen. Next year’s quota has been bumped upward again to about 7,000 metric tons.

North of the border, yellowtail flounder catches have also increased. The 2001 Canadian quota of 13,000 metric tons is double the quota of a few years ago.

But quotas for most other Canadian flatfish remain at relatively depressed levels. The 2001 quota for American plaice, for example, is just 2,000 metric tons, a far cry from the 1990 catch of almost 50,000 metric tons.

In Alaska, the amount of flatfish caught will continue to depend on conditions of markets, rather than stocks. Ex-vessel prices of yellowfin sole have kicked up about $50 a ton, to $1,150, so landings should increase.

Look for West Coast flatfish catches to remain low, as fisheries managers try to initiate a recovery program. Landings in British Columbia remain quite stable, due in part to an individual quota system. B.C. flatfish catches in 2001 should again be about 6,000 metric tons, half of them Dover.

Supplies of imported, frozen flatfish were sluggish through the first seven months of 2001. Flounder imports were up to almost 6,000 metric tons, an increase of 20 percent over last year. Most of the increase was due to higher imports from Japan and China.

Imports of sole, meanwhile, were down 22 percent, to 6,750 metric tons, due in part to a decline in fresh true Dover sole imports from the Netherlands.

Price trends

Fresh flatfish from New England has been, and should continue to be, a pretty good buy. The price of yellowtail flounder fillets to distributors has been below $4 a pound, f.o.b. New Bedford, since spring.

That’s a far cry from the $8  a pound reached in recent years. Look for prices to continue at current levels, although periodic shortages will drive them higher.

The average price of medium-sized winter fillets fell from more than $6 a pound in recent years to about $4 a pound, f.o.b.  Boston, much of this year. Look for even better buys on blackback and lemon sole (winter flounder above 3 1/2 pounds) early this winter.

Gray sole fillet prices to distributors have settled in at $6 to $8 a pound, f.o.b. Boston. Look for prices to hold through the winter, although temporary shortages will push them above $10 a pound.

Fluke has also been a good buy that will get better, unless the Japanese economy does a reversal and surprises everyone. Fresh fluke fillets should be readily available at $4 to $5 a pound.

Despite the decline in production, prices for fresh West Coast flatfish fillets have increased on average only about 25 cents a pound in the past two years. Pacific Dover sole has been running $2.40 to $2.90 a pound to distributors, while petrale prices have been between $4.20 and $5.20 a pound. Look for similar pricing in 2002.

Some frozen flatfish has also been a great buy. This September, one Canadian producer was offering skinless, boneless 3- to 5-ounce fillets for less than $1.50 a pound, f.o.b. Boston. Meanwhile, yellowfin sole fillets have been selling in the $1.85- to $1.90-a-pound range.

On the high end, importers have been selling whole frozen Dover sole at $5 to $6 a pound, f.o.b. New York, depending on size. 

Buying tips

Timing is a key ingredient in getting the best flatfish for the money. In the case of some of the larger species, quality goes downhill quickly after they spawn.

If you’re buying winter flounder, for example, you may want to switch to another flatfish in the late winter and early spring, when blackbacks are recovering from spawning.

The quality of fresh flatfish varies considerably from supplier to supplier. Most New England flatfish is now sold on display auctions, and buyers with more discerning markets will buy fish landed at the end of the trip. So don’t be surprised to see a price difference of 50 cents a pound or more for the same fillet from supplier to supplier.

If you want a good buy on petrale, plan to push it in January and February. That’s when the fish school to spawn and heavy landings drive fillet prices down $1 a pound or more.

Be careful when buying yellowfin sole from China. Fillets made from cheap Russian raw material can seem like an attractive buy, but the quality will probably disappoint your customers. If someone offers you product at 20 cents a pound or so under the market, it’s probably Russian production.

Culinary notes

Foodservice operators looking to upgrade their image and profits should try serving flatfish on the bone, and it doesn’t have to be Dover from Europe. Compared to fillets, eating flatfish on the bone is an entirely different experience.

Consider fresh whole blackback, petrale and gray sole, which can be picked up for $2 a pound or so and menued at $16 and up. Or you can be clever like the Chinese and serve frozen rex sole from Alaska, which will cost even less.

Meanwhile, if you’re frying flounder, take a hard look at the larger size of Canadian fillets. They’re a bargain at less than $2 a pound to operators. 

Back to top