With $380 million worth of prized roe at stake, this auction is serious business for Seattle and Asia
Description: A1 article highlighting the pollock roe industry
Lede:
The fish is for sticks, but the roe is the prize.
Pollock roe — fish eggs — is a delicacy in Japan and South Korea. The United States is the largest exporter of pollock roe in the world, and the little-known fact is that Seattle’s Pier 91 at the north end of Elliott Bay is the epicenter of the multimillion-dollar trade.
Every year, during the winter pollock season, buyers from Japan and South Korea flock to Seattle to participate in several rounds of auctions, which began Monday. This week, about $250 million worth of roe has been sold, and by the end of the month, the total is expected to reach more than $380 million — $100 million more than last year.
From the end of January to the end of March, the North Pacific trawler fleet, which is based at Pier 91, heads to Alaska to fish for roe. The joke is that the fish itself is a byproduct. In fact, pollock is a workhorse generally used for fish sticks or breaded fillets, and for surimi, which is most commonly recognized in the form of imitation crab legs.
But it has a belly of gold.