Alaska brand. We believe!

The simmering clash between the pollock fisheries of the U.S.A. and Russia is a fact ever since the latter gained an equal footing with the Alaska fisheries in terms of sustainability, under the auspices of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certificate. But the latest geo-political tensions, however, between Washington and Moscow, have once again highlighted their differences.
Although it was not unknown that since both fisheries have the MSC guarantee, the U.S.A. pollock producers have concentrated on protecting the Alaska brand, the bans imposed by the Russian authorities, at the end of August, have led the Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers Association (GAPP) to counterattack by formally applying to the government agency of the United States responsible for regulating food (FDA) for it to amend the regulation on labelling this product, the aim being that only the species originating in Alaska can be named Alaska pollock.

We are still awaiting the FDA’s reply, but it is highly likely that, very shortly, we shall find pollock (full stop) and pollock with Alaska as the denomination of origin, on the shelves of U.S. supermarkets.