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Pollack:professional buying guide, season, size grades, line or net

Pollack for the trade: season, EU size grades, Audierne and southern Brittany, line-caught pollack, difference from saithe, freshness and substitutes.

Updated 5 min readLiveCriée editorial team

Contents
  1. Buying sheet
  2. When to buy pollack?
  3. Pollack or saithe: how to tell them apart?
  4. How to judge the freshness of a pollack?
  5. What to replace pollack with?
  6. What makes the price of pollack move?
  7. Frequently asked questions

Pollack (lieu jaune, Pollachius pollachius) is a round fish of the cod family, with white, firm and pearly flesh, caught mostly by line and net close to the rocky coasts of Brittany and the English Channel; it is a restaurant fish, close to sea bass in its uses, not to be confused with saithe, its offshore cousin, which is much cheaper. In 2024, its average auction price was five times that of saithe (FranceAgriMer).

Buying sheet

Pollack
Scientific namePollachius pollachius
Peak seasonJune to August, with a first peak in March. Low in January and November
Closed seasonNo national closure; fished under quota
Minimum size30 cm
EU size grades1: 5 kg and over; 2: 3 to 5 kg; 3: 1.5 to 3 kg; 4: 300 g to 1.5 kg
Examples of size grades on price lists1/2 kg, 2/3 kg, 3/5 kg, 5 kg+ (common practice, not a standard)
Main French fish auctions (2024)1,007 t sold at auction. Audierne 18%, Concarneau 9%, Lorient 9%, Brest 8%, Noirmoutier 7%, Le Guilvinec 6%, Les Sables-d'Olonne 5%
OriginsFAO area 27: western English Channel, Iroise Sea, Celtic Sea, Bay of Biscay
Fishing methodsLine and longline, gillnet, trawl
YieldClose to 50% as fillets (Ifremer); to be measured on your own deliveries
StorageWhole and gutted, on melting ice (0 to 2 °C)

Size grades: Regulation (EC) No 2406/96, Annex II. Minimum size: Regulation (EU) 2019/1241. Yield: Ifremer (2000). Shares calculated by the editorial team from the sales declared at French fish auctions in 2024 (FranceAgriMer). National rhythm of auction sales (FranceAgriMer, 2024); it varies from one port to another.

When to buy pollack?

Pollack is available all year round, but its landings double between winter and summer: in 2024, about sixty tonnes in January and in November, more than 100 tonnes a month from June to August, with a peak in July. Its price is remarkably stable from one month to the next, with a low in March and a rise in December. It is one of the safe bets of a summer menu in Brittany.

Pollack or saithe: how to tell them apart?

PollackSaithe
Lateral linedark and curved above the pectoral finslight and almost straight
Jawlower jaw clearly protrudingroughly equal
Backgreenish brown to bronzecharcoal grey to black
Raw fleshwhite, pearlygreyish, turning white when cooked
Typical fishinginshore line and netoffshore trawl

The label must carry the name and the scientific name: Pollachius pollachius for pollack, Pollachius virens for saithe.

How to judge the freshness of a pollack?

Bulging, shiny eye; bright red gills; golden, shiny skin, clear slime; stiff body; firm flesh that does not keep the mark of a finger. Line-caught pollack, handled one by one, arrives without friction marks or torn scales. Mesh marks indicate a net-caught fish, which is not a defect if it is today's catch.

What to replace pollack with?

UseSubstituteNote
Loin, roasted portionSea bass, codsea bass more expensive, cod more tender
Pan-fried or steamed filletHake, haddockmore fragile flesh
Low price, dish of the daySaithegreyer flesh, stronger taste

What makes the price of pollack move?

Average first-sale price at auction, France, 2024Pollack
Yearly averageabout €10.10/kg
Cheapest monthMarch: about €7.80/kg
Most expensive monthDecember: about €11.30/kg
Spread between auctionsfrom €8.10/kg (Erquy) to €11.20/kg (Noirmoutier)

Year 2024, all French fish auctions: average first-sale price at the auction hall (FranceAgriMer, sales declared at fish auctions, workbook published on 2 July 2026). Spread between auctions: among those handling at least 5% of pollack volumes. The auction price is not the price paid to the fish merchant: processing, transport and margin are added to it.

Pollack has a fairly steady price: outside March, its monthly average stayed between about €9.50 and €11.30/kg in 2024. The cheapest month is that of the first peak in landings, March, with 110 t sold at about €7.80/kg; 2025 shows the same late-winter low. The summer peak, for its part, did not push the price down (102 to 117 t a month from June to August, at between about €10.00 and €11.20/kg). The spread of about €3/kg between the auctions that matter may come from the mix of line-caught and trawl-caught pollack and from the sizes landed, which the average does not separate.

  • The fishing method: line fetches more than net and trawl; Ifremer noted a gap of up to 50% between line-caught and trawl-caught pollack (1998 prices).
  • The size: large fish, cut into thick loins, sell for more per kilo.
  • The season: little difference over the year, a rise at year-end.
  • The weather: a gale keeps the line fishers of Audierne and southern Brittany in port.
  • The port: at equal size, line-caught pollack landed the same day is worth more than trawl-caught pollack.

Frequently asked questions

When is pollack in season?

It is available all year round. The heaviest landings come from June to August, with a first peak in March; January and November are the lowest months.

What is the difference between pollack and saithe?

They are two species. Pollack has a dark, curved lateral line, a protruding lower jaw and white flesh; saithe, a light, straight line and greyish flesh. Pollack sells on average for five times as much at auction.

What is line-caught pollack?

Pollack caught on hooks by small inshore boats, mostly in Brittany. It arrives intact and very fresh. The mention "line" corresponds to the gear "hooks and lines", which must appear on the label.

What is the minimum size of pollack?

30 cm in European Union waters of the Atlantic, the English Channel and the North Sea. The smallest EU size category starts at 300 g.

What is the price of pollack?

In 2024, about €10.10/kg on average at first sale in French fish auctions, from about €7.80/kg in March to about €11.30/kg in December (FranceAgriMer). The price paid to the fish merchant adds processing, transport and margin; line-caught pollack and large sizes cost more.

Sources

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