fish market

In 2015, the fish catch increased by 5% in Russia

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In 2015, the fish catch increased be 5% in Russia. According to Ilya Shestakov, Deputy Minister of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery, the catch of the Pacific and Atlantic herring increased by 4% up to 427,000 MT, the catch of sprats – by 62.5% up to 104,000 MT, the catch of shrimp – by 17% up to 14,400 MT, the catch of mackerel – by 10% up to 212,000 MT. As of December 23 the total catch was 4.33 million tons of fish, which is 5% more than the same date last year.

Shestakov also said that the supply of products to the domestic market increased by 220,000 MT compared to 2014 which helped partly compensate the lack of fish and seafood caused by the Russian food ban. In particular, the volume of herring, supplied to the domestic market, rose by 72% compared to 2014 – in total, more than 230,000 MT, the volume of pollock increased by 26% to 241,000 MT.

www.finmarket.ru

Salmon from Primorye can substitute European salmon

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According to Aleksandr Vaskov, the vice president of Primorye fishery producers Association, the consumption of salmon in Primorye is less than overall catch.

“Salmon from Primorye can substitute European salmon in Central and Western Russia. The quality of Primorye salmon is no worse than Norwegian one, for example. Our salmon is environmentally safe. Moreover, the geographical location of Primorye makes it possible to export to South Korea, China and Japan”, added Alexandr Vaskov.

www.primamedia.ru

US (AK): Proposed 2014 Halibut Catch Down 21 per cent

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The recommendations for next year’s halibut catches are down again for all regions in the USA except Southeast Alaska.

Fishery scientists with the International Pacific Halibut Commission have recommended a 2014 coast wide commercial catch total of 24.45 million pounds, a 21% decrease from the 31 million pounds allowed for this year. That includes catches in Alaska, British Columbia and the Pacific Coast states.

In a summation at a meeting in Seattle last week, the IPHC said: “The results of the 2013 stock assessment indicate that the Pacific halibut stock has been declining continuously over much of the last decade as a result of decreasing size-at-age, as well as recruitment strengths that are much smaller than those observed through the 1980s and 1990s.”

Here are the proposed catch limits for Alaska regions in millions of pounds, compared to the totals from 2013 in parentheses: Southeast Alaska (2C) – 4.16 (2.97); Central Gulf (3A) – 9.43 (11.03); Western Gulf (3B) – 2.84 (4.29); Alaska Peninsula (4A) – 0.85 (1.33); Aleutian Islands region (4B) – 0.82 (1.45); Bering Sea (4CDE) 0.64 (1.94).

Final decisions on the catch limits, season start date and regulation changes will be made by the IPHC at its annual meeting, Jan. 13-17 in Seattle. While the Pacific halibut catches have been declining for decade, the value of the fishery has been on a downward trend for the past four years.

Near the end of each year bills are sent out to Alaska longliners who hold shares of the halibut and sablefish (black cod) catches. They are required to pay an annual fee to the federal government to cover the costs for managing and enforcing those fisheries. The fee, which is capped at three percent, is based on dock prices and averaged across the state.

The billings were mailed out in late November to 2,024 fishermen, 90 fewer than last year, according to Troie Zuniga, fee coordinator for NOAA Fisheries in Juneau.

This year the combined halibut and sablefish fisheries paid a fee of 2.8%, which yielded $5 million for coverage costs.

For halibut, the overall dockside value of the 2013 fishery was $105 million, and about $72 million for black cod.

“That’s about $32 million lower than the 2012 value for halibut and $37 million lower for black cod,” Zuniga said, adding that it reflects a fishery value decline of nearly 28 percent over four years.

In terms of fish prices, the average for halibut this year was $5.06 per pound compared to $5.87 last year; for sablefish, an average price of $2.84 per pound is a drop from $4.11 in 2013.

www.thefishsite.com

Norway chilled salmon became more expensive

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$7.65 per 1 kilogram is the highest price in 10 years for this season, said the Association of produce and trade companies of fish market. In comparison with last year’s same period Norway chilled salmon price increased by 60%. Norway suppliers refer to tough weather conditions – due to them the price of transportation highly increased. As result the price to consumer grew up respectively.

The Association of fish market says that the same factor will also influence the price in future. “In other words, Norwegians will be able to sell fish at a price that does not have any market explanation. That means they can set any price”, – the Association says. Also the Association thinks that the situation worsened due to the lack of competition – now Norwegians are the only suppliers of salmon. Last year Polish companies could compete with them, but in the beginning of 2013 all big fish farming companies fell under Norway companies’ control.

According to Russian the Federal Fisheries Agency’s predictions, in 2013 the salmon market is 400,000 tons, 150,000 tons of which is Norway salmon. According to Norway Fish Committee, during period January-October 2013 the supply of fish and seafood from Norway to Russia decreased by 17.3% – till 224,700 tons. In monetary terms the import increased by 6.1% – till €630 million. Imports of Norway salmon decreased by 18.2% – till 87,000 tons while the average price of supplies increased by 37.8% – till €4.65 per kilogram. Imports of trout shrank by 14.1% – till 21,900 tons while costs increased by 37.8% – till €4.97 per kilogram.

Alexandr Savelyev, the representative of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency, interprets the situation as an “outrage”. “In Russia the price on farmed fish is 4-6 times higher than price on wild fish. It is the only country with a situation like that”, – he says. According to the information of the Federal Fisheries Agency, prime cost of Norway salmon is 50 Rubles per kilogram, Russian salmon – 80 Rubles per kilogram.

Timur Mitulov, the head of informational fishery agency, considers the matter is not only the weather: “Russian Far East yield of salmon decreased by 12-13%, meanwhile Japan and USA demand strengthened”.

Meanwhile representatives of X5 Retail Group and “Sedmoy Kontinent” say, that during the last 3 months they haven’t noticed any price increases on the part of suppliers who sell Norway chilled salmon.

www.retailer.ru