Ivan Stupachenko

The Russian Antitrust Service (RAS) has proposed changes to the mechanism of fishing quota distribution that could expand a major overhaul of how the country manages its seafood sector.

Since 2004, most quotas in Russia have been allocated on the so called “historic principle,” which allocates quota based on the average of a company’s previous years’ catches, provided it fulfills all of its tax obligations, engages in

Russia and Norway are planning to conduct tests to check the readiness of an electronic catch information exchange system, planned to be fully operational in 2021.

Russia’s Center of Fishery Monitoring and Communications (CFMC) – a state-owned company in charge of implementing digital reporting technologies in the Russian seafood sector – said it had reached an agreement with Norway’s fisheries authorities to start joint

Russia’s Federal Agency for Fisheries is planning to propose a legislative initiative that would impose a 30-year limit on the service life of the nation's fishing fleet.

The move, set to take into effect in 2033, is needed to enhance safety and increase productivity of vessels, the agency said.

The concept for the proposal to establish a limit is contained in analytical materials for the agency’s annual collegium, a board that

Russia’s Ministry for Development of the Far East is working out incentive measures to boost aquaculture in the Russian north, claiming it is one of its greatest priorities.

The ministry was created to help bring investments to the Russian Far East, which has been lacking labor and financial resources for years. With positive results achieved through the establishment of a free economic zone and other steps, the ministry’s functions

Russia’s seafood industry is facing a serious threat from the COVID-19 pandemic, with two of its biggest export markets, China and South Korea, essentially shut down.

China and South Korea are crucial to Russia, accounting for a vast majority of the country’s seafood exports. In 2019, Russia exported 1.7 million metric tons (MT) of seafood, with 1.2 million MT, or 70.5 percent, going to China. Half of this volume was pollock,

The Russian Fishery Company (RFC) has sold off eight subsidiary companies holding herring, cod, and squid quotas of around 8,600 metric tons annually.

The move was made to optimize the company’s assets, RFC Head of Corporate Communications Evgeniya Tsymbal told SeafoodSource.

“The company aims to effectively fish and process pollock and herring in certain fishing areas. The quotas which don’t fit the priorities were offered to

The aquaculture industry of the Crimean Peninsula – a territory disputed by Russia and Ukraine that has been under Russian control since 2014 – is crossing borders to deliver seafood to external markets as the region seeks to expand the industry.

In 2020, Crimean aquaculture companies plan to start sales in Armenia, Belarus and Kazakhstan – the countries of the European-Asian Economic Union (EAEU) –Crimea’s Minister

Russia and Norway have renewed an old controversy over the status of waters around the archipelago of Spitsbergen – or Svalbard as it’s officially called in Norway.

The countries have recently exchanged diplomatic blows in a dispute over whether Russian fishers are entitled to fish freely in the area, without the controls exercised by Norway’s authorities.

The controversy flared up early February after Russian Foreign

Russia’s fisheries production continues to climb, reaching an all-time high of 5.03 million metric tons (MT) in 2018 and coming close to that mark again last year with a total catch of nearly five million MT.

But the Russian government thinks the country can do better.

Under its newly published “Strategy for Development of the Seafood Industry through 2030,” the government has set ambitious targets for increasing volume and