{"id":5552,"date":"2025-11-28T11:53:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/academy.pittmanseafoods.com\/?p=5552"},"modified":"2025-11-28T11:53:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T10:53:45","slug":"the-many-faces-of-hake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/academy.pittmanseafoods.com\/en\/2025\/11\/the-many-faces-of-hake\/","title":{"rendered":"The many faces of hake"},"content":{"rendered":"

While hake has long had culinary strongholds, especially in southern Europe, the rising price of cod has meant that more mainstream whitefish distributors are turning to hake to help fill the gap.<\/b><\/p>\n

With at least five distinct commercial species, each boasting different geographic ranges and traits, hake make for a valuable source of whitefish. This is aided by the fact that many of the world\u2019s diverse range of hake fisheries are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).<\/p>\n

A slow-growing fish, reaching up to 115 cm over a lifespan of around 14 years, hake undertake daily vertical migration, aggregating close to the seabed during daylight hours before dispersing up through the water column at night to feed on fish and plankton. This has led to the development of a range of fishing techniques \u2013 from bottom trawling, to longlining and gillnetting.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

One fish, five key species<\/b><\/h2>\n

Here in Northwest Europe, it\u2019s the European hake (Merluccius merluccius) that\u2019s the most familiar of the hake tribe. Native to the Northeast Atlantic and Mediterranean, the species is the archetypal \u201cmerluza\u201d that\u2019s often found whole in fish counters in Spain, France and Italy. EU landings of the species were around 135,000 tonnes in 2022 and several of Europe\u2019s hake fisheries \u2013 including Galicia\u2019s line-caught and Cornwall\u2019s gillnet hake fisheries \u2013 are MSC-certified.<\/i><\/p>\n

The South Atlantic, on the other hand, is home to the two species of Cape hake (Merluccius capensis <\/i>and M. paradoxus<\/i>). Caught mainly off South Africa and Namibia, they are part of one of the world\u2019s best-known certified demersal trawl and longline fisheries. South Africa\u2019s has been MSC-certified since 2004 and Namibia\u2019s since 2020. Between them, these fisheries typically harvest around 145,000 tonnes each year. The majority of Cape hake are exported, mainly to Europe, where they are valued for being mild, firm and versatile.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the western seaboard of North America is home to Pacific hake (Merluccius productus<\/i>), also known as Pacific whiting. Found from British Columbia to Baja California, this is the largest single fishery on the US West Coast, with commercial landings of around 213,000 tonnes in 2023. First MSC certified in 2009, it’s dominated by midwater trawl techniques. A large share of this tonnage goes into surimi and block products rather than premium fillets.<\/p>\n

The Peruvian hake (Merluccius gayi peruanus<\/i>) and Chilean common hake (Merluccius gayi gayi<\/i>) are the main hake subspecies in the South Pacific – ranging from northern Peru to the Chilo\u00e9 archipelago in southern Chile. Both support small fisheries, and Chile’s is dominated by a fleet of artisanal vessels. <\/a><\/p>\n

Finally, the Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi<\/i>) is distributed along the Southwest Atlantic, with Argentina setting a total allowable catch (TAC) of around 319,000 tonnes in 2024. Much of this is exported to Spain, with whole, gutted fish and commodity fillets being the usual cuts.<\/p>\n

A supplier\u2019s perspective<\/b><\/h2>\n

As a spokesperson for Pittman Seafoods, one of Europe\u2019s top suppliers, reflects, hake is currently experiencing something of a renaissance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always looking for new species for our processing line. Alaskan pollock is still our number one whitefish in terms of volume and is very competitive. Cod is becoming more scarce and more expensive – we have noticed that hake is a very good alternative.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we\u2019ve had North American hake in our portfolio for many years, we are also starting to source Peruvian and Cape hake, which we process into portions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

What\u2019s clear is that these five hake species each provide a valuable link in the global whitefish supply chain \u2013 slotting between premium cod\/haddock and lower cost pollock \u2013 while offering chefs a mild, flaky flesh that takes well to frying, baking and stewing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While hake has long had culinary strongholds, especially in southern Europe, the rising price of cod has meant that more mainstream whitefish distributors are turning to hake to help fill the gap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5553,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-geen-categorie-en"],"yoast_head":"\nKey hake species<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A comparison of five of the most popular hake species - from Europe to South Africa, Argentina to British Columbia.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/academy.pittmanseafoods.com\/en\/2025\/11\/the-many-faces-of-hake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Key hake species\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A comparison of five of the most popular hake species - 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