Kostroma, Russia-based aquaculture company Volgorechenskiy rybkhoz is planning to increase its output by nearly 20 times to fill a niche for premium fish left free of foreign competitors due to sanctions stemming from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A media agency in Kostroma reported that Volgorechenskiy rybkhoz is planning to build new facilities in order to grow up to 700 metric tons (MT) of fish a year, mostly trout. Currently, the company’s annual production is just 28 MT of carp, sturgeon, trout, and sharptooth catfish.
According to the company, it is going to take advantage of the exodus of importers that previously held major stakes in the premium seafood market. In May 2022, imports of salmonids – mostly trout and Atlantic salmon – decreased by five times compared to the same period last year to just 858 MT, the Association of Production and Trade Enterprises of Fishery Markets reported. The imports were mostly from the Faroes Islands and Chile – but now supplies from the Faroes Islands have halted due to sanctions.
The drop in imports coincided with an increase in prices for trout and Atlantic Salmon, Kommersant reported.
Filling the niches left open after the departure of foreign companies may prove difficult. Manufacturers of high-quality fish feed have also left the Russian market, and Volgorechenskiy rybkhoz General Director Vyacheslav Baldin told the press that the company had been buying foreign-made fish feed. As it stands, the company’s inventory will run out towards the end of the year, though Baldin said Russian authorities will find alternative suppliers from places like Iran and China.
If the company can secure feed, the market is certainly there. Trout has become a highly-sought-after species in the Russian aquaculture industry as imports of salmonids to Russia started to drop following a ban on food imports from the European Union, U.S., Norway, and other countries in 2014. A few large-scale aquaculture projects emerged to capitalize on the new opportunities following the ban.
Through 2030, Russia wants the domestic market to be fully occupied – or at least dominated – by locally caught or grown salmonids, Federal Agency for Fisheries Deputy Head Vasily Sokolov told the magazine Veterinary and Life. Volumes of farmed char and Atlantic salmon are planned to reach 150,000 MT, with another 70,000 MT of Pacific salmon annually grown in Russia’s Far East region, Sokolov said.
The Russian Aquaculture company estimates that the premium salmonids market is 114,000 MT a year, with 99,000 MT of that volume coming from imports. Currently, only 30,000 MT of trout are grown in Russia, according to Kommersant, with the Karelia region in Russia’s northwest dominating the industry with a yearly output of more than 26,000 MT.
Photo courtesy of Russian Aquaculture
