Saving Seafood

Russian Investors with No Crab History Closer to Grabbing Share of Lucrative Crab Quotas

August 29, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — The Russian red king crab fishery is the most valuable crab fishery in the world, and has long attracted the attention of poachers, oligarchs, and the Russian government.

For years the government has waged a campaign against poaching, which was often undermined by bribery of border guards and local officials.  However, poaching is less of an issue now because, first, the Russians increased the quotas to allow more legal harvest, and second, the legal harvesters began pushing for enforcement as well, to protect their products from cheaper competition.

Russia has a ten year cycle for crab quotas, and another auction is coming up.

Ten years ago, to bid in the auction companies needed to demonstrate a history in the fishery.

Subsequently, the Russian government has targeted investment in domestic processing and ship building as a key national objective to be obtained through trading awards of fish quotas to companies who make investments.

The Russian Fishing Company, associated with Gleb Frank, a close advisor to Vladimir Putin, has taken advantage of this to raise funds for a number of Russian built pollock trawlers and domestic processing plants.

Other oligarchs have also come into the fishing business as fishing is one of the fastest growing Russian agricultural segments, and investments are not hindered by international sanctions.

Salmon and trout producer Russian Aquaculture is the largest player in the Russian fish business with a 22% market share and is growing fast. The partners of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich acquired 25% in South Sakhalin fishing company Poronay, while Agama RT bought 49.99% in Russian Cod, controlled by a subsidiary of Russian Industrial Fish Company (RRPK) of Gleb Frank, the son-in-law of oligarch and Kremlin insider Gennady Timchenko.

Reportedly it was Gleb Frank’s RRPK which suggested to Vladimir Putin to redistribute crab quotas through auctions in autumn 2017, unnamed market participants told the Russian Vedomosti newspaper. RRPK has entered the market recently and spent a record-high RUB10bn on crab fishing quotas in May 2017.

The government could raise additional RUB 80bn-200bn from auctioning the quotas the state fishing agency Rosribolovstvo estimated, according to Tass.

Traditional participants in the Far East Crab industry fear getting cut back.  The governor of Primorsky region warned Putin that the local communities would suffer if this proposal is adopted. ‘Fishing Villages don’t have the money to go out and buy quota,” he said.

Further Far East companies have invested over $2 billion US in quotas from 2001 to 2017, and withdrawing quotas from these companies would lead to disruption of operations and investments by regional players.

The war over crab quotas has played out among different Russian Agencies, in particular with Rosribolovstvo the fisheries agency supporting quota auctions, and the FSB, the federal investigative service, attacking foreign ownership and trying to discredit or force sales from some previous quota holders.  The FSB has generally been thought to be attacking existing companies to force them into a situation where they can be bought by new Russian buyers.

It now appears that the government is going forward with awarding 50% of the quota in the upcoming crab auctions to “investors” without prior fishing history as a requirement.  This was announced officially as a government decree, according to the Vedomosti Daily.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

International Year of the Salmon Will Open at the Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo 2018

August 27, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — It’s no secret that salmon is an important market and they’re going to get the spotlight at the Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo 2018 where an opening ceremony will be held for the International Year of Salmon. A global community of scientists and ecologists has established the International Year of Salmon. The year will include a series of events aimed at addressing, reducing, and resolving the various problems of maintaining global salmon stock.

According to a TASS press release Deputy Minister of Agriculture and head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov, NASCO President Jóannes Hansen, NPAFC President Suam Kim, NPAFC Executive Director Vladimir Radchenko, Director of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kirill Kolochin and Director of WWF Russia Igor Chestin will attend the International Year of the Salmon opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony for the International Year of the Salmon will take place in St. Petersburg on the third day of the second annual Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo which is being held from the 13 through the 15 of September at the Expo Forum Convention and Exhibition Complex. The Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo is being organized by the Federal Agency for Fishery and the operator is the Roscongress Foundation.

The TASS press release also highlighted that the International Year of Salmon has been a long time coming stating: Specialists first spoke of the need for this project over ten years ago. Co-operation between countries will create an opportunity to clarify many aspects of the ecology of salmon, the study of which requires considerable resources considering the salmon’s extensive natural habitat and their complex life cycle.

Within the scope of International Year of the Salmon, from autumn 2018 to the end of 2019, it is planned to implement a complex of measures base on proposals made by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO).

The program includes scientific expeditions and other events designed, among other things, to popularize research and ecological education, to develop exchange of information about the state of popularization and the industry. An important component of the project remains the fight against the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to control the fish catch.

According to the NPAFC, the global catch of Pacific salmon, has no, since the drop in the 1950s–1970s to 400 thousand tonnes, risen to almost one million tonnes. ICES statistics indicate a drop in the global catch of anadromous Atlantic salmon from 12 thousand tonnes in the 1970s to 1.2 thousand tonnes in 2017. This is connected with a cut in the numbers of salmon and restrictions on the industry. A large part of the Atlantic salmon catch in 2017 was taken from rivers (64%), though a significant number of fish are still caught in the sea on migration routes in the countries of the South East Atlantic. The biggest sea catch in 2017 was registered by Norway – 290 thousand tonnes, including 138 thousand tonnes declared in the province of Finnmark, where salmon of Russian origin are caught.

This story originally appeared on Seafood News, it is republished with permission.

 

Financial outlook sunny for salmon fishermen, plus commercial salmon openers around Alaska

May 29, 2018 — Forces are aligned for a nice payday for Alaska’s salmon fishermen.

There is no backlog from last season in cold storages, a lower harvest forecast is boosting demand, prices for competing farmed salmon have remained high all year, and a devalued U.S. dollar makes Alaska salmon more appealing to foreign customers.

“Over the past year the dollar has weakened 11 percent against the euro, 9 percent against the British pound, 5 percent against the Japanese yen, and 7 percent against the Chinese yuan. That makes Alaska salmon and other seafood more affordable to those top overseas customers,” said Garrett Evridge, a fisheries analyst at the McDowell Group.

Last year Alaska seafood exports set records in terms of volume and value — 1.1 billion metric tons valued at $3.45 billion. Alaska salmon accounted for 22 percent of the volume and 36 percent of the value.

On the home front, the weaker dollar will make imports from Chile, the largest farmed salmon importer to the U.S. followed by Norway, more expensive. That also will apply to imports of competing wild salmon from Canada where — if it materializes — a big sockeye run is predicted in nearby British Columbia.

“About every four years we expect a relatively large harvest from the Fraser River run in B.C. In 2014 they produced about 83 million pounds of salmon and sockeye was the largest component,” Evridge said. “Likewise, a weaker dollar will make wild salmon imports from Russia and Japan more expensive for U.S. buyers.”

Russia, which had grown from a $10 million customer of primarily pink salmon roe to $60 million in 2013, has banned all imports of U.S. seafood since 2014. Meanwhile, that country continues to send millions of tons of salmon and other seafood into the U.S.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

 

Scientists say fish feel pain. It could lead to major changes in the fishing industry.

May 24, 2018 — The idea that fish suffer runs counter to almost everything Americans have been taught about creatures of the sea. That their brains are not complex enough to experience pain. That their behaviors when stressed — such as wriggling violently on a hook — are just unconscious reactions, disconnected from the suffering of sentient beings. That they’re, more or less, unfeeling little meat sticks that don’t deserve animal welfare protections.

The accumulated research on fish pain has recently hit the public with the impact of a blunt object. In January, Hakai magazine published a comprehensive feature under the headline, “Fish Feel Pain. Now What?,” which Smithsonian magazine republished under the more provocative title, “It’s Official: Fish Feel Pain.” This month, the storytelling studio Topic ran a deeply reported story “How to Kill Fish,” in which author Cat Ferguson argues that the Japanese technique called ike jime is not only more humane than other forms of slaughter but also produces superior-tasting fish.

So why is the public only now interested in a subject that researchers have been covering for two decades? Is it another manifestation of a food culture that demands only the finest ingredients?  Or maybe Americans — or some at least — are now ready to face the consequences of a world that acknowledges fish pain? What would it mean for the commercial fishing industry? For regulators? For recreational anglers?

For starters, the U.S. government might have to amend the Animal Welfare Act and the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, both of which exclude fish. Weekend anglers might have to kill their fish first before throwing them in a cooler. Fish farms might have to adopt new methods of slaughter. Commercial trawlers, the boats that roam the world’s oceans, might have to upgrade their equipment to kill fish humanely.

In other words, there would be a lot of resistance to changing the way fish is caught, transported and killed. It might be possible for fish farms and weekend anglers to change their ways, says David Krebs, founder of Ariel Seafoods in Destin, Fla., but it would be impossible for commercial boats, which can net a million or more fish at one time.

“You have a [catch] come on board with two million creatures, and you’re going to take each one of them and say, ‘Let’s change how you’re dying.’ It’s impossible,” Krebs says. “You’re not changing the way that the Russians are trawling or the way that the Japanese are trawling.”

Read the full story at the Washington Post

Russia Says Volume of King Crab in Barents Sea May Equal Far East in a Few Years; Cod Catches Drop

May 18, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Russia plans to significantly increase the harvest volume of cod and Kamchatka (King) crab in the Barents Sea during the next several years, according to recent statements of representatives from leading local producers and senior officials of the Russian Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo).

This year, however, the volume of cod catch in the Barents Sea in the Arctic zone of Russia is expected to be the lowest of the last five years due to the lack of productive year classes. This was confirmed by All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Director, Kirill Kolonchin.

At the same time, according to Kolonchin, and in contrast to cod, the volume of production of Kamchatka crab in the Barents Sea may increase significantly. That increase is primarily due to the corresponding population growth of the stock that has been observed in recent years.

VNIRO experts predict the commercial stock of Kamchatka crab could reach the level of the Far East in the next five to 10 years, Kolonchin said:

“The main share in the catch volume in the Barents Sea is taken by cod [fishermen], the fishing stock of which increased from 1.5 million tons in 2006 to 4.3 million tons in 2013,” Kolonchin said. “However last year it fell to 2.5 million tons. Regulation of its catch in the Barents sea is carried out within the framework of the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission (FNC). For the current year, total allowable catch is set at 782,000, of which 331,000 tons accounts for Russia.”

He specified in 2017 the Russian catch of cod in the Barents Sea amounted to 396,000 tons, while in 2013 it was 432,300 tons. In the coming years, further reduction of cod stocks in the Barents Sea is expected due to the lack of new productive year classes recruiting into the fishery.

At the same time, according to VNIRO data, current Kamchatka crab stocks in the Barents Sea are quite high. Since the beginning of Kamchatka crab fishing in 2004, there have been two peaks in crab numbers: in 2006-07, at about 80,000 tons, and in 2014-17, at about 90,000-100,000 tons. However, in 2010, when the reserves fell significantly, the total allowable catch of Kamchatka crab in the Barents Sea was reduced from 10,400 tons to 4,000 tons. That precautionary measure resulted in the rebound and increase of its commercial stock.

Kolonchin also said that data in 2017 showed the appearance of numerous crab reserves, which should ensure the continued growth of this stock in 2019 onward.

Experts of VNIRO also added that the Barents Sea currently has favorable conditions for the catch of haddock, saithe, black halibut, sea flounder, catfish, capelin and saika. For example, after a two-year ban on capelin in 2016-2017, harvest levels for the current year were recommended at 205,000 tons, 80, 000 tons of which are the set aside for the domestic quota.

This story was originally published on Seafood News, it is republished here with permission.

 

High prices turning Russians off seafood

April 24, 2018 — Russia’s overall catch has been on a consistent rise. In 2010, Russia’s total catch reached 4.2 million metric tons (MT). In 2012, that figure had increased to 4.33 million MT. By 2016, total fisheries were 4.6 million MT, and last year was record-breaking, with totals cresting 4.9 million MT, according to the Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries.

Yet paradoxically, the average consumption rate of fish by Russians within the same period has drastically decreased, by more than 50 percent. The decline is linked to sharp increases in prices, which have made seafood unaffordable for many people. The high prices themselves have been caused by a wide range of problems that must be tackled if Russia hopes to see its domestic seafood consumption increase.

Total catch breaks records 

Russia’s higher catch totals over the past several years can be attributed to the integration of Crimea into the Russian Federation in March 2014, as well as by Russia’s subsequent ban on imports from U. S., Australia, Iceland, Norway, and the European Union in August 2014. As a result, the country’s import volume decreased from 1 million MT in 2014 to 450,000 MT in 2016, and Russian fisheries’ production went from a 50 percent share in the domestic market in 2014 to more than 80 percent in 2017.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

 

Crab Fight! Aboard Alaska’s Quest To Be America’s King Of Crab

February 28, 2018 — Deep in the Bering Sea off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands, the U.S. and Russia share fishing waters that are home to this nation’s supply of king and snow crab. Predictably, the relationship is contentious. While the two nations compete for room on your plate, the deck is stacked against Alaskan fisheries thanks to cheaper imported product and illegal crab. Despite the economics, the Alaskan crab industry, made famous by The Discovery Channel’s hit show Deadliest Catch, fights for quality and sustainability in a competitive, and sometimes sketchy, global market.

Alaska’s modern fishing industry accounts for nearly 60% of America’s seafood, and today’s sustainability practices stem from the Alaskan constitution, written in 1959. But the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act marked the first significant shift in the regulation of our modern seafood, starting with redefining our fishing boundaries.

“Magnuson-Stevens expanded our coast from three to 200 miles offshore,” says Tyson Fick, Executive Director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “We decided we were tired of foreign fleets fishing off our shore, and we said, ‘You know what’? Those are our fish.’ We stepped up and claimed it.”

2005 was another year of sweeping changes. Magnuson-Stevens implemented a catch-share program, reducing the number of crab-fishing boats from three hundred to about eighty. The drastic cut sounds harsh, but crabbing was dangerous, even by today’s standards. Excellent seamen competed with less experienced captains commanding inadequate vessels in a race to catch crab regardless of the weather. People died. Crowded ports meant the catch was stretched thin and few were making decent money. Talented captains were falling into debt.

Read the full story at Forbes

 

Record Russian Salmon Catch Expected for 2018

February 13, 2018 — SEAFOOD NEWS — Russia prepares for a record salmon catch this year, according to recent statements of scientific director of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Mikhail Glubokovsky.

Analysts of VNIRO predict the volume of salmon catch in Russia may exceed 500,000 tonnes this year — a record figure in the modern history of the country. The majority of catch (64 percent) will account for Kamchatka, while the most harvested species will comprise humpback and chum salmon.

Last year, only 353,000 tonnes of salmon were produced in Russia, which was mainly due to poor harvests at Sakhalin and the Amur, caused by the migration of salmon to the north and a high level of poaching. That has resulted in the increase of local prices for salmon and caviar and a shortage of fish among Russia’s largest salmon processors.

In the meantime, despite the increase of production, Russia has no plans to reduce salmon imports, mainly from Chile and Faroe Islands. These supplies are mostly intended for Western parts of the country, as in recent years tariffs for the delivery of fish from the Far East to St. Petersburg and other western regions of Russia have significantly increased. Those increases made imports even more profitable than domestic supplies.

This year, Rosrybolovstvo plans to increase the forecasts for the level of harvests, relying on a unified methodology of observations and trawl surveys.

This story originally appeared on Seafoodnews.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.

 

Recreational cod fishing to stay shut down in Gulf of Maine

February 2, 2018 — Fishing managers are recommending that cod remain off limits to recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Maine.

Cod were once harvested in colossal numbers from New England waters, but the population has collapsed in the Gulf of Maine and elsewhere. The New England Fishery Management Council is calling on the federal government to maintain a year-round ban on possession of Gulf of Maine cod by recreational fishermen.

Commercial fishermen are still allowed to catch cod in the Gulf of Maine, though quotas for the fish are so low that many try to avoid the fish altogether. Cod are widely used to make fish and chips.

Read the full story from the Associated Press at the Greenwich Time

 

US cod catch could soon make a comeback, NOAA says

January 19, 2018 — Atlantic cod catch in the United States was recorded at an all-time historical low in 2016, but a rebound for the fishery may be on the horizon, according to officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Once a hallmark of New England’s commercial fishing sector, the Atlantic cod fishery has suffered plummeting catch volumes due to overfishing and environmental changes over recent years, The Associated Press reported, via The Bangor Daily News. However, cod stocks are showing some promising signs for the upcoming season, NOAA officials said, and quotas are on track to increase slightly in spring of 2018.

Cod fishermen in the Gulf of Maine and on Georges Bank can expect a bump in their quotas come 1 May. That’s a step in the right direction, Ben Martens, executive director of the Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association, said.

“The quotas are so constraining that there’s not a lot of opportunity and interest in targeting cod,” Martens told the Associated Press. “But we’re headed in the right direction.”

Considered a “choke species” by fishermen, once cod quotas are reached, fishing must cease outright. As such, many fishermen have been avoiding cod altogether, the AP reported.

Recent marine analysis has indicated more abundance of cod in the Gulf of Maine and Georges Bank, Jamie Cournane, groundfish plan coordinator with the New England Fishery Management Council, an arm of NOAA, told the AP. Such figures have prompted the council to propose doubling the commercial cod quota for both New England areas to nearly 3.9 million pounds, a move that’s still awaiting U.S. Department of Commerce approval, Cournane said.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource