America

North America has, since the end of World War II, been a major market for seafood products from Iceland. However, In recent years the importance of this market has declined considerably, or from around 15% of Iceland’s total marine exports to 5% in 2009. The current export value to America is around 10.6 billion ISK (EUR 61 million / USD 83 million).

The marked for frozen fillets in the USA was developed in the early 1940s, and from that time onwards, the Icelandic processing industry was restructured. It changed, to a large extent, from the traditional salting of demersal products to freezing them. Freezing began in the interwar period but was on a low scale until the fishing industry was modernized after the Second World War. Also, conflicts with European nations over the gradual extension of the Icelandic EEZ contributed greatly to the increasing importance of the American market.

The largest share of exports to America goes to the United States. A small share is also exported to Canada, which is also the largest competitor to Icelandic products on the USA market. A still smaller share is exported to Latin America where markets are for salted products, similar as in Southern Europe.

The majority of products exported to America, originate from demersal species; historically, mainly cod. Over the last few years, the export of cod products has declined considerably, whereas cod status has largely been replaced by haddock and saithe. Some capelin were also exported to America but it is negligible now.

A probable explanation for this change in cod export is the increasing demand for fresh fish; mainly in Europe. Exports to the USA were largely block frozen cod that was ideally suited for further processing in large canteens (often processed into fish sticks) and frozen boneless fillets for restaurants and homes. The increased demand for fresh fish internationally, higher fish prices and the low valuation of the dollar, have made the USA market less of a rival in recent years.

Although fresh fish is in demand in the USA, the distances and cost of transportation, limit the sale of Icelandic fresh fish products in the USA. The USA market is however, still one of the fundamental markets for Icelandic seafood products internationally. Athough the export is mostly frozen codfishes the market structure has, to a large extent, changed from being a supplier of the relatively cheap frozen blocks, to a market providing high quality boneless products.

Hörður Sævaldsson, University of Akureyri