SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Japan News Report] - September 2, 2010 - Production of frozen pollock surimi in the U.S. “B” DAP season has been going at a pace exceeding last year, creating the prospect of attaining the final volume of around 60,000 tons. According to some U.S. packers, the fish harvested this season has been generally suitable for production of surimi, although body size tended to be smaller on the whole. They further analyzed that, thanks to stable landings, production showed an increase, with yields improving except for shore-based plants located far from the fishing grounds. This year, DAP surimi output in 'A' season for the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska combined totaled 42,418 tons, which was an increase of 13.6% over a year ago. In the 'B' season, which started in June, the cumulative total surimi production as of August 14 came to 37,027 tons, up 20.7% from 30,687 tons a year earlier. As a result, the total for 'A' and 'B' seasons is closing in on 80,000 tons, nearing last year's final production of 86,878 tons for “A” and “B”.  Some local sources even predict that production in the 'B' season will advance to slightly less than 60,000 tons, leading the 'A' and ' B' total close to 100,000 tons. Informed sources say that price negotiations between U.S. packers and Japanese importers have been nearly settled. Now talks are focused on domestic sales prices for Japanese suppliers. With regard to settled prices (CIF) between the U.S. and Japan in 'B' season, reports have that prices turned higher than in 'A' season on the whole, although some of high-grade prices remained level.  The contracted prices for 'A' season are seen to have been settled at somewhere around Y480-490 per kilo for FA grade, Y430-440 for A grade, Y290-300 for KA grade and Y260-270 for B grade. Local sources point out that this would mark a price rise for two seasons in a row, as prices in 'A' season staged a Y30-40 rise over 'B' season last year. The expectations of Japanese makers for lower U.S. surimi prices in the “B” season on the strength of production increase and the yen's appreciation were offset, among others, by the strong demand for pollock fillet in the U.S. and Europe, although fillet production has somewhat slowed down recently. Furthermore, the prospect of supply and recovery of surimi in next season and afterwards remains opaque, and supply of good-quality surimi in Japan still continues to be tight. Japan's imports of U.S. pollock surimi to the end of June this year totaled about 26,300 tons, which was 32.5% higher than a year ago. In a similar move, the imports of itoyori (golden threadfin bream) surimi mainly from Thailand and India advanced 35.1% to 28,000 tons. The surimi stockpile in Japan, on the other hand, shrank 18.3% at the end of June, although the inventory survey standards changed from the data as of the end of December last year. The inventory of pollock surimi saw a 40% drop, as compared to 20% growth for other types of surimi. While the stockpile of non-pollock surimi showed conspicuous growth, land-based pollock surimi production in Hokkaido is witnessing a slow recovery. In this DAP season, substantial mixtures of 500-600 gram size fish (most likely four-year-old fish) have been reported in the main migration schools. Conversely, three-year-old and younger fish were not made subject to harvest. Some informed sources are of the view that there will be an increase in five-year-old fish next season and there is a prospect for recovery of four-year-olds. Whether or not this prospect proves certain will be brought to light through the trawl survey by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), the results of which will be made public possibly by mid-September or later.