Europeche pans Damanki’s ‘inaction’ on Russia ban

European fisheries association Europeche is blasting European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Maria Damanaki (pictured) for what the association calls “inaction” in the face of recent trade bans from Russia against EU seafood.

The Russian government enacted the ban on 7 August against the United States, Canada, Australia, Norway and the EU, in retaliation for economic sanctions from those nations protesting Russia’s involvement in escalating violence in Ukraine.

Europeche argued that the ban is already causing economic problems in the fishing sector that it said was still “reeling” from changes to the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy. Europeche quoted data from Eurostat and COMEXT which estimated the ban would cost the sector as much as EUR 158.8 million (USD million) due to the cutting off of the export route, and speculated that surplus product in Europe would further impact the markets there.

President of Europeche, Javier Garat stated: “It is shocking that not only has the commissioner proposed no action to address the impact of such economic uncertainty on the industry but absolutely no reaction has been made at all,” said Europeche President Javier Garat. “The ban is causing serious financial losses to the sector at a time when we are already facing a vast swathe of new regulations from Brussels. At this challenging time, our fishermen feel frustrated and need clarity on what is being done to address the impact of the ban.”

Damanaki herself has not issued any official statements on the ban. In August, SeafoodSource reported a commission spokesman saying the EU “regrets” the ban, but that the ban won’t change its position on Ukraine and Crimea.

“This announcement is clearly politically motivated,” the spokesman said in a statement. “The commission will assess the measures in question as soon as we have more information as to their full content and extent. We underline that the European Union's restrictive measures are directly linked with the illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilization of Ukraine. The European Union remains committed to de-escalating the situation in Ukraine. All should join in this effort.”

Europeche, which represents 16 national fishing organizations in 10 EU member states, sent a letter to Damanaki calling for a task force to work with stakeholders to analyze the impacts of the ban and identify new potential markets to replace the lost Russian market.

“It is important that such a Task Force is initiated in a most timely manner in order that the most efficient preparations can be established,” Garat said. “A stable market for fishery and aquaculture products is essential and we need to be provided with the economic knowledge to mitigate losses to our own fisheries.”

Keep checking SeafoodSource for all the latest news on Russia’s ban on seafood exports

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