The U.S. needs to implement more sophisticated restrictions and an origin control system to make sanctions on Russian seafood more effective, according to Lotus Seafood CEO Nick Ovchinnikov.
California-based Ovchinnikov said Russian seafood processed in China is not sanctioned “and it doesn't seem like it will be.” Likewise, he said, “there seem to be no restrictions on potential shipments of Russian-caught fish and seafood into the U.S. via third countries such as the Netherlands and South Korea.”
President Joe Biden's executive order 14024 required all shipments from Russia to arrive by 25 March, after which the U.S. would refuse entry. Later, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control extended that deadline to 23 June.
“So during the recent months, there was a surge in the imports from Russia, specifically for red king and snow crab, the two items for which Russia has traditionally been a big player,” Ovchinnikov told SeafoodSource.
That surge, he said, resulted in record imports of the two species.
“May 2022 saw a record high import of these two species of 8.4 million pounds of King and 1.5 million pounds of Snow, which is four times above the average monthly imported quantity for these species,” according to Ovchinnikov, whose firm recently opened a new ready-meals plant in California.
Even after the ban is enforced on 23 June, it is unclear whether the U.S. can prevent Russian seafood from entering the country. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water, Oceans, and Wildlife Subcommittee Chair Jared Huffman claimed soon after Biden’s announcement that a ban won’t work.
“This well-intentioned ban won’t work, not under current laws and policies, not under the less than watchful eye of NOAA,” Huffman said during a committee meeting in April.
Strict COVID-19 regulations at Chinese ports had this spring already squeezed Russian fishery supply from entering China, making it harder to judge the immediate impact of sanctions.
Photo courtesy of Lotus Seafood/LinkedIn
