Ivan Stupachenko

The Russian government is continuing to seek solutions to address an excessive supply of pollock stemming from the near-closure of the Chinese market.

In January, Chinese customs authorities announced a tightening of inspections after they claimed to have found live strains of COVID-19 on the packaging of seafood imported from Russia.

Even though Russian watchdog government bodies have upped their own inspections of

Russia’s pollock season, which began on 1 January, is in serious jeopardy as its primary market, China, has shut out Russian imports, citing COVID-19 safety measures.

Russia sells to 61 percent of its national seafood exports – worth nearly USD 3.3 billion (EUR 2.74 billion) – to China, with Russia's pollock exports to China worth USD 580 to USD 600 million (EUR 482 to EUR 499 million).

The Chinese market became

Commercial fishing in the Caspian Sea – the largest inland water body on the planet – has resumed and is producing at better-than-expected levels.

Last year brought results exceeding those of 2019 – the first year fishing of certain key species had been allowed in the sea for years. Now, scientific forecasts and recommended harvests for 2021 have increased further still, making the sea a potential growth area for Russia's

Russia’s antitrust regulator, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS), has opened a case against the Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) and several of its members over allegedly anticompetitive conduct.

The plaintiff in the case is the Russian Fishery Company (RFC), which has been in conflict with PCA since late last year, when it was ousted from the association. 

According to FAS case documents, the PCA possibly violated a clause

Nakhodka Active Marine Base (NBAMR) and Okeanrybflot – two fisheries in Russia’s Far East – have allegedly merged. If reports are accurate, the merger has created a company possessing the largest quota in the sector, with fishing rights for more than 460,000 metric tons (MT) a year.

Business paper Kommersant wrote that since December 2020 Okeanrybflot has been owned by “the same beneficiaries which own NBAMR,”

Russia has introduced plans to undertake a modernization of its scientific fleet, with the goal of obtaining more accurate stock and biomass counts and predictions for catch totals.

Ultimately, the goal is to boost the country's fishing ambitions, which extend beyond Russia's own waters. 

Since 2014, when Russia banned food imports from many Western countries – a ban it recently extended through late 2021 – Russia

The Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia have signed an agreement outlining safeguards for Russia's marine biological resources and the environment. 

Signed by Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries Head Ilya Shestakov and WWF-Russia Director Dmitry Gorshkov, the document also calls for closer efforts between WWF and the Russian government to study marine life and find more