Groundfish

Groundfish are bought as fillets, portions or headed-and-gutted whole fish, and the format decision drives both price and the labour position at destination. Fillets remove work at the destination and arrive ready; whole fish preserves flexibility and costs less per kilogram of raw material but not necessarily per kilogram of yield.

The species are not interchangeable. Cod and haddock are the premium white-flesh trade; halibut is a distinct high-value product; pollock serves volume and processing applications.

Glaze percentage and freezing method are the two parameters that recur, as across all frozen seafood. Contract on net weight after glaze, and specify single-frozen or twice-frozen, because a fillet cut from a previously frozen block behaves differently from one frozen once at sea.