World Utilization of Hake

DONALD R. WHITAKER

Table l.-Hake production by countries (l,Oootons, live weight).

ers but, like the U.S.S.R., Spain'scatch of hake may decline somewhat inthe future.

African production is dominated by

South Africa which regularly accountsfor about 90 percent of that area's pro­duction. Production has been stable inrecent years.

Introduction

Tn the last 10-15 years hake has be­come an increasingly important worldfishery. In the 1960's, hake was usedto a large extent for fish meal produc­tion, especially in South America. Atthe same time there began to be a veryactive interest in certain Atlantic hakestocks for human consumption. Duringthe last few years there has been grow­ing pressure on cod supplies. Hake hasemerged as one of the more promisingsubstitues for white-fleshed fish suchas cod, haddock, flounders, soles, etc.(Schroeder et aI., 1978).

The purposes of this paper are four­fold: Review trends in world catches,indicate the products produced, look atworld trade, and briefly review themajor market areas for hake products.

World Catch

World production of hake increasedat a rate of nearly 8 percent per yearduring 1971-76. The catch in the 36major producing countries rose from1.5 million tons in 1971 to 2. I milliontons in 1976 (Table I). The SovietUnion is by far the largest producer ofhake, accounting for 32-55 percent ofthe world catch. The Russian catch hasdeclined by about 30 percent in recentyears. Its catch may decline evenfurther with the advent of extendedfishery jurisdictions around the world.

The second largest producer andmarket is Spain. Its catch has risen bythe use of long-distance freezer trawl-

Country

AfricaAngolaCameroonEgyptGhanaMoroccoSouth AfricaTunisiaZaire

Subtotal

N.. S. AmericaCubaU.S.A.ArgentinaBrazilChilePeruUruguay

Subtotal

AsiaIsraelJapan

Subtotal

EuropeBelgiumBulgariaDenmarkFranceGerman Oem. Rep.Fed. Rep. GermanyIrelandItalyNelherlandsNorwayPolandPortugalSpainSwedenUnited KingdomYugOSlaviaRumania

1971

0.2

2.9111.5

0.42.8

117.8

39.820.092.018.266.026.2

3.7

265.9

8.664.8

73.4

0.222.4

1.224.0

8.16.1

10.70.20.80.2

31.8229.2

0.32.80.31.7

1972

0.12.50.11.32.6

118.10.22.8

127.7

49.013.8

102.814.066.912.68.5

267.6

9.256.1

65.3

0.222.9

1.422.30.24.10.1

12.90.10.73.4

27.2259.2

0.32.90.30.3

1973

0.12.50.14.92.9

133.00.65.8

149.9

31.320.5

151.431.646.5

132.14.5

417.9

6.570.1

76.6

0.219.3

1.424.7

5.01.50.1

11.50.31.0

39.244.0

263.40.42.80.40.2

1974

0.12.5

11.65.1

134.90.85.8

160.8

31.714.8

162.233.643.1

109.41.5

396.3

5.763.3

69.0

0.4138

1.823.0

1.30.20.1

13.60.20.7

76.928.6

218.50.42.60.50.5

1975

0.12.5

1.44.4

113.10.85.8

128.1

31.722.5

109.033.643.184.9

9.8

334.6

6.054.4

60.4

0.713.4

2.324.210.63.70.3

14.30.10.4

94.819.4

254.10.42.80.60.3

1976

2.5

0.30.1

118.20.82.7

124.6

57.542.1

174.933.129.592.811.7

441.6

6.366.4

72.7

3.554.5

140.565.631.012.210.728.012.90.8

84.835.4

263.41.8

57.40.71.8

Source: FAO Fishery Statistics Yearbook, various volumes.

Donald R. Whitaker is an Industry Economistwith the Economic Analysis Staff, Office ofPolicy and Planning. National Marine FisheriesService. NOAA, Washington. DC 20235.

Subtotal

U.S.S.R.

Grand Total

340.0 358.5 415.4 383.1 442.4 805.0

736.2 1.035.2 1.072.9 746.9 640.7 680.8

1.533.3 1,854.3 2,132.7 1.758.1 1.606.2 2,124.7

4 Marine Fisheries Review

Table 4.-Peruvian hake utilization (tons).

Year Fresh Frozen Sailed/Dried Sausage Canned Fish meal

1972 3,477 876 743 7,4851973 4,086 41,439 297 891 157 85,9871974 3,016 70,068 1.509 895 2,434 31,3951975 4,092 66,673 1.241 1.541 121 11,1661976 3,221 79,019 532 934 34 8,853

Source: FAO Fisheries Report 203 (Supplement 1).

Table 2.-Estlmated hake potentials in North and South Table 3.-World production of Atlantic cod, haddock,America. and selected flatfish (1,000 tons,live weight).

Potential Flounders.Country (tons) Atlantic Had- plaice, Short·

Year cod dock soles, etc. Total fallChile 100,000Peru 200·250,000 1965 2,726 748 724 4,198Argentina-Uruguay 750,000 1966 2,874 729 952 4,555Mexico 300-400,000 1967 3,123 484 1,028 4,635U.S.A. (Washington-Oregon) 90·150,000 1968 3,867 487 969 5,323

1969 3,577 902 1.077 5,556Total 1,440-1,650,000 1970 3.076 913 1,044 5,033 523

1971 2,851 506 1.154 4,511 1.045Sources: FAO Fisheries Report 203, (Supplement 1) and 1972 2,738 547 1.031 4,316 1,240National Marine Fisheries Service. 1973 2.541 625 1,176 4,342 1,214

1974 2,872 582 1,128 4,582 9741975 2,430 529 1,091 4,050 1.5061976 2.385 520 1,074 3,979 1,577

Source: FAO Fishery Statistics Yearbook, various volumes.

The area where production is grow­ing the fastest is North and SouthAmerica. Here production increasedby 13 percent per year during 1971-76.Argentina and Peru account for nearlytwo-thirds of the catch in the Americasat present.

Potential Catches

World attention has turned to the po­tential for increasing hake productionin Latin America. Table 2 indicatesthat this area has the potential fordoubling present catches. About halfof the relatively untapped potential isfound on the Patagonian Shelf offArgentina and Uruguay. The remain­ing potential is in the eastern PacificOcean from the State of Washington toChile.

Europe and North America are ex­periencing increasing difficulty in ob­taining supplies of traditional white­fleshed species at prices the consumeris prepared to pay. This growingdifficulty is shown in Table 3. Catchesof the most popular white-fleshedspecies for the North American andEuropean markets have declined in the1970's. The catch of Atlantic cod,haddock, and various flatfish peaked at5.6 million tons in 1969. Since thenthe combined catches have droppednearly 30 percent or 1.5 million tons.The last column in the table shows theshortfall in catches of recent yearscompared with the 1969 peak. The 1.5to 2.0 million tons of hake being pro­duced annually are helping to supplythe demand by this shortfall in catchesof traditional species.

Hake Products

A listing of hake products producedin Uruguay indicates a wide variety ofprocesses and styles are available inthe world markets (Mattos and Torre­jon, 1978): Heated and gutted; headedand gutted, without tailor fins, scaled,and dressed; individual quick frozen(lQF) fillets; IQF fillets with and with­out skin, boned; layer pack interleavedfillets; shatter pack interleaved fillets;frozen blocks.

The most important single marketfor hake products is for fillet blocks inthe United States and is based on the

January 1980

consumption of fish sticks and por­tions. Other markets for hake blocksare to be found in Europe and Aus­tralia, while the markets for dressedhake in the United States and Europeare limited, compared with those offish blocks and frozen fillets, they areexpanding (Anderson et a\., 1974).

Whole hake can generally be soldonly in local markets where the fish arelanded. These markets are usually con­sidered as a temporary outlet until amore profitable export trade is de­veloped.

Production of salted hake is limitedat present, however there is a largeworld market for salted products.There has been a recent increase in theproduction of dried-salted hake-aproduct that resembles salted-dried codbut costs less. There are great pros­pects for salted products in LatinAmerica. This is because of theeconomics, minimal investment andease of processing, extended keepingqualities, and freedom from compli­cated chains of distribution (Lupin,1978).

Peru is a good example of the evolu­tion of hake products being producedin South America. The average percen­tage of hake utilization in Peru from1967 to 1970 was originally 90 percentfor fish meal (Sanchez and Lam,1978). In 1976, about 90 percent of thehake catch in Peru was used to processproducts for human consumption (Ta­ble 4).

Hake is generally not used in cannedproducts. However, different whitefishpreparations, including hake, could becanned such as fish patties, fish balls,etc. Hake can also be prepared aspaste, sausages, etc.

A preliminary investigation showedthat all species, except one, examinedfrom South American waters had goodgel-forming capacity and thus suitablefor kamaboko. Kamaboko and fishsausage make up 26 percent ofJapanese fish consumption (Okada,1978).

The official statistics publ ished bythe Food and Agriculture Organizationof the United Nations (FAO) show fewtypes of products being produced in

5

certain countries. Table 5 summarizesthe available data for recent years.

Foreign Trade

Available data on imports and ex­ports of hake products by country isnot at present published in FAa statis­tical yearbooks. However, the generalknowledge of hake flows from themajor production areas to major mar­kets is as follows.

The major hake markets are theUnited States and Europe, and to a less­er extent, Australia, Brazil, and someAfrican countries. The United Statesconsumes all the hake it produces andimports considerable quantities. Thesame is generally true for Europe, al­though Spain does export some hake.With European fish catches tending tolevel off and consumption of frozenfish growing there, we can expect tosee larger imports of hake by Europe.Hake is being supplied to these mar­kets from the beef-eating nations ofSouth America and South Africa. Rus­sia, which catches a large share of theworld's hake also exports it, but thequantities are not available.

In most producing countries, domes­tic demand may well continue to rise.However, all countries attach thegreatest importance to foreign trade forgetting the most out of their resourcesand investments. FAa estimates of themajor world import areas at present areshown in Table 6.

The present trade of 175,000 tons isthe equivalent of about 440,000 tons ofwhole hake per year. We should add tothis 15,000 tons of fresh hake importedby Brazil.

Out of a technically accessible mar­ket of 455,000 tons, Latin Americantrade accounts for 23 percent or105,000 tons despite the fact thatstocks and production capacity vastlyexceed this figure. The remaining 77percent is supplied by, in order of im­portance: U.S.S.R., Spain, Japan,South Africa, and Poland (Food andAgriculture Organization, 1978).

The spread of extended fisherieszones could drastically reduce thecatches of German and Spanish long­distance fleets which catch about150,000 tons of hake off West Africa.

6

Table 5.-Partlal production of hake prodUcts.

Product 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976

Frozen filletsU.S.A. 0.2 0.1 1.3 0.9 0.4 0.4Argentina 21.9 18.6 46.7 18.6 15.3 15.5Uruguay 0.2 1.2S. Africa 6.0

Frozenmiscellaneous

S.Africa 9.2 9.2 23.5 18.9 25.2 39.4Argentina 0.8 3.0 3.6 5.0 5.2 14.0Chile 3.2 2.2 12.0 1.4 1.5

Dried saltedCanada 1.7 2.8 2.2 2.5 2.5 2.0Chile 0.2 0.1 0.1Argentina 0.5 0.1 0.2

SmokedCanada 6.1 0.2 0.2 0.2

Source: FAO Yearbook of Fishery Statistics. various vol·umes.

Table 5.-Current and projected world trade inhake products (tons).

Area 1976·77 1980

United States 20,000 35.000Western Europe and

Mediterranean 121,000 185.000Australia 15.000 20.000Brazii 5.000 10.000Other Countries 14.000 20.000

Totals 175.000 270.000

Source: FAO Fisheries Report 203 (Supplement 1).

The same restnctlOns will affect theSoviet, Japanese, and Polish factoryships. Thus, world trade could go upby as much as 300,000 tons to meetthese demands.

FAa projects the international mar­ket for hake to be about 270,000 tonsby 1980 (Table 6). This total is equiva­lent to an annual hake catch of 678,000tons.

Markets

SpainAn important recent development in

Spanish fisheries was the establish­ment of fisheries for Cape hake in theSouth Atlantic where fish were frozenon board and brought back to Spaineither by the fishing vessels themselvesor by specialized cargo boats. With asubstantial portion of the catch comingfrom distant waters, the Spanishfishing industry faces a difficult time.

Cape hake is now fully exploited (EarlR. Combs, Inc., 1979).

Hake has replaced cod as the majorspecies landed, representing about 12percent of Spain's total catch byweight.

About 45 percent of the Spanish fishcatch is marketed fresh or chilled. Theentire catch of Cape hake is marketedfrozen in comparison with locallycaught hake which is retailed fresh.

Early attempts, about 1959, to in­troduce frozen headed and gutted hakeled to a strong adverse consumer reac­tion. The second step came with filletproduction. To improve quality, fillet­ing was done on board vessels. Theintroduction of battered, breaded, andfried products made from imperfecthake fillets was not successful. TheSpanish market resisted products witha regular geometric shape. Now thereis a growing market in preparedproducts from hake blocks sold in analuminum tray with a sauce. The fu­ture for frozen hake in Spain is good(Varona, 1978).

West Germany

The West German market forheaded and gutted hake is rather lim­ited, but with the increasing scarcityof other fish, there is a growing trend toreplace them with blocks of frozenhake. Hake block imports are about10,000 tons at present (Food and Ag­riculture Organization, 1978). Im­ported hake blocks are cut and proces­sed as fish sticks and packaged intoconvenience sizes. The German con­sumer does not have a very clear con­cept of hake. Forthis reason, firms leantoward other species when the hakesupply is inadequate (Werner, 1978).

The introduction of extended fishingzones has wreaked havoc with theGerman fishing industry by depriving itof, or severely limiting, catches on itstraditional fishing grounds. Con­sequently Germany will have to dependincreasingly upon imports (Earl R.Combs, Inc., 1979).

France

Hake is well received on the Frenchmarket which totals about 20,000 tonsper year. Imports from South America

Marine Fisheries Review

Source: Fisheries of the United States. 1978.

Table 7.-U.S. imports of fish blocks byspecies, 1978.

ported from Latin America (Food andAgriculture Organization, 1978).

Australia

Australia imports about 4 ,000 tons ofsmoked hake and also frozen blocksfrom South America (Food and Ag­riculture Organization, 1978).

United States

Frozen fish blocks of various speciesare extensively used in the UnitedStates as raw materials for further pro­cessing into a wide variety of products(Table 7). Block use has grown at a rateof 6 percent per year in the 1970's.Hake blocks have received increasedattention in the United States, mainly asa substitute for cod blocks. Hake isgradually meeting with the acceptance

Literature CitedAndersen, P., W. P. Appleyard, P. W. DeHaan,

G. H. Hordijk, E. C. A. VanNorrt, and 1. R.Souness . 1974. Important aspects of marketingPeruvian merluza. Fishery products. FishingNews (Books) Ltd., Lond., p. 294-296.

Brooker, J. R. 1978. The quality and utilizationof whiting in the United States. FAO Fish.Rep. 203, Suppl. 1:220-235.

Combs, Earl R., Inc. 1979. Export and domesticmarket study. Var. pag. U.S. Dep. Commer.,NOAA, Natl. Mar. Fish. Serv., Off. Fish.Dev. Util.

Fisheries Development Limited. 1976. The mar­ket in western Europe for dogfish, squid, mus­sels, skate, monkfish and whiting, p. 97-111.Fish. Dev. Div., Northeast Reg. Off., Natl.Mar. Fish. Serv., NOAA.

Food and Agriculture Organization. 1978. LatinAmerican hake: Products and markets. FAOFish. Rep. 203, Suppl. 1:196-208.

Lupin, H. M. 1978. Principles of salting anddrying hake. FAO Fish. Rep. 203, Suppl.I: 161-176

Mattos, S. A., and E. S. Torrejon. 1978. Aspectsof the processing of frozen hake in Uruguay.FAO Fish. Rep. 203, Suppl. 1:142-145.

Okada, M. 1<;'78. The gel-forming capacity ofsome hake species from South America. FAOFish. Rep. 203, Suppl. 1:153-160.

Pedraja, R. R. 1978. Composition, quality andmarket factors of whiting (hake) fish blocks.FAO Fish. Rep. 203, Suppl. 1:209-221.

Sanchez, J. T., and R. Lam. 1978. Develop­ment of new products from hake (Merlucciusgayi peruanus) in Peru. FAO Fish. Rep. 203,Suppl. I: 177-195.

Schroeder, P. R., O. Kelly, and R. B. Weddle.1978. Factors affecting the quality of frozenhake and the quality requirements of Europeanimporters. FAO Fish. Rep. 203, Suppl.1: 102-117.

Varona, J. J. 1978. A historical view of the intro­duction of hake products to the Spanish con­sumer. FAO Fish. Rep. 203, Suppl. 1:48-49.

Werner, J. 1978. Demands of the German marketfor Latin American hake. FAO Fish. Rep. 203,Suppl. 1:236-243.

of the industry because of certain re­semblances with cod and other popularwhite flesh species (Pedraja, 1978). In1978, hake accounted for nearly 10percent of U.S. imports of frozen fishblocks. Imports of hake blocks in recentyears have increased from 4 mil­lion pounds to 10 million pounds (Table8).

The two major market forms of whit­ing products produced in the UnitedStates are fillets and headed and guttedfish (Brooker, 1978). Production ofthese products has been declining overthe last 10-15 years (Table 9).

1.01.00.3080.11.30.80.40.40.4

50.420.06.64.19.8074.935

100.00

Percent01 total

15.57.67.04.62.44.62.039453.9

Headed andYear gutted Fillets

1968196919701971197219731974197519761977

Table 9.-U.S. production ofhake prodUcts (tons).

Source: Processed FisheryProducts. NMFS. various years.

Tons

92.83336.86812.2577,609

18.0581.3999.0076,454

184,485Total

Species

CodPollockHaddockFlatlishHakeOcean perchMinced fishOther

Source: Fisheries ofthe United States.1978.

Year Tons

1975 3.9541976 9,3621977 10,1601978 18.058

Table 8.-U.S. im­ports of hake blocks.

total about 4,000 tons. The Frenchmarket remains essentially a fresh fishmarket for only one-third of Frenchhouseholds have freezers. Althoughfrozen and smoked seafoods are mak­ing slow but gradual inroads, theFrench consumer ordinarily purchasesentire or sectional fish or increasingamounts of fillets (Earl R. Combs, Inc.,1979) .

Italy

Hake is one of the most importantfish sold at retail in Italy. The marketfor hake is estimated at 90,000 tons(Fishery Development Ltd., 1974).

The total market for dried salted fishis about 30,000 tons. Supplies fromnorthern Europe are becoming scarceand more costly. Some hake is im-

Zaire

Portugal

Hake is one of the most popularspecies in Portugal. The production ofcod is not able to keep up with marketdemand, thus hake is being substituted.Hake imports were 17,000 tons in 1976and 10,000 tons in 1977 compared withcatches of 19,000 and 35,000 tons inthose years. The largest share of im­ported hake comes from South Africaand the U.S.S.R. The Amessao Reg­ulatora de Commercio de Bacalhar(Regulatory Commission for CodTrade) is able to import hake only whenthe domestic catch is insufficient tomeet market demand (Earl R. Combs,Inc., 1979).

Brazil

There is a considerable Brazilianmarket for dried salt fish with 40,000tons imported annually. Consumptionranges from 85,000 to 100,000 tons.The traditional cod and related speciesare being replaced, in part, by lowercost dried salted hake (Food and Ag­riculture Organization, 1978).

January 1980 7