Russia is planning to run a new auction for the sale of crab fishing investment quotas in October, which will set quotas for the next 15 years.
The Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries has been signaling throughout 2023 that it planned to run investment quota auctions for several species in the country. In June, Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries Head Ilya Shestakov announced the agency was working to organize auctions for the remaining 50 percent of crab quotas.
“Now the regulatory legal framework is being adopted, [and] we plan to hold crab auctions for the main types of objects this year,” Shestakov said.
Russia first held auctions for crab quotas in 2019, granting 46,000 metric tons (MT) of quota via 41 lots to fishing companies.
Now, Fishnews reports the country is planning to hold electronic auctions for the remaining quota from 16 to 18 October. Applications to participate in the auction started on 26 September and will last until 11 October.
Winners of the auctions will be required to invest in either a fishing vessel built at a Russian shipyard or a “logistics complex," such as transport refrigerators or processing facilities. Auction winners will be allowed to use the acquire quotas by next year.
The type of object to be built will depend on the lot being purchased. All told, 23 new fishing vessels, three large logistics complexes, and one small one are to be constructed through the new auctions.
Regardless of which companies win the auctions, the likelihood of the ships being constructed quickly is relatively low. After Russia concluded the first crab auctions in 2019, the industry planned to construct 41 new crab vessels. So far, just 8 have been delivered, and companies have had difficulties meeting the obligations of the previous investment-quota program.
The schedule for building the new vessels, Fishnews reported, began to slip in Russia by the “end of the third quarter,” and the situation for medium-tonnage fishing vessels remains difficult. Russian fishing companies in July warned that the country’s shipbuilders were already at capacity trying to meet the existing requirements.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade, meanwhile, said it expects 16 to 20 new vessels to be completed by the end of the year, with several ships in the final stages of completion. The President of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries German Zverev also reportedly said the Ministry of Agriculture has been receptive to comments from the working group that addresses the crab auctions.
This time around, participation in the auctions has also reportedly expanded beyond just Russia’s fishing companies, with agricultural holding company Tkachev Agrocomplex announcing its plans to participate, Vedomosti reported.
Agrocomplex has extensive holdings in Russia’s agriculture industry, producing 324,000 metric tons (MT) of milk at the end of 2022. If the company does participate, it would be the first non-fishery company to participate in the program.
Photo courtesy of Onego Shipyard
