WHITE fish prices are likely to remain on the high side, according to the latest bulletin from leading food service distributor M&J Seafoods.

 Fish Update 05/08/2008

The weekly market report says that "white fish supplies are not brilliant at the moment", with haddock and codling prices moving up sharply. This was borne out by Fishgate at Hull which received around 1,600 boxes yesterday, said that demand for haddock remained steady with demand strong for good quality fish. Because of the time of year some haddock was very soft, but overall the quality was good.

The Grimsby market received around 3,800 boxes from Iceland and the Faroes yesterday.

M&J Seafoods said that prices for headless halibut and turbot from Canada was 10 to 15 per cent higher than this time last year. The price of both species from Norway was also up due to the strength of the krona and euro.

On a brighter note, M&J said it expected salmon prices to ease over the next couple of weeks once the Norwegian holiday season ends and factories get into production again. Other species such as sea bass and exotics from the Far East are reasonably plentiful and prices remained stable.

Meanwhile, M&J Seafoods is celebrating the news that its parent company, the Brakes Group, is to receive the ISO 14001 certification, the international standard for its Environmental Management System.

Group chief executive officer Frank McKay said it was a creditable achievement which would help improve the environmental impact of the company's activities future environmental performance

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