Russia cuts off seafood from west

After the United States and other western countries hit Russia with economic sanctions relating to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has now retaliated with his own sanctions that appear to have dealt a blow to seafood trade between Russia and the west.

Putin announced yesterday an executive order that enacts trade bans for imports to Russia of “agricultural products, raw materials and foodstuffs originating in countries that have decided to impose economic sanctions on Russian legal entities and/or physical individuals, or have joined such decisions.”

While the order doesn’t reference seafood specifically, nor does it refer to any countries by name, Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev (pictured, with Putin) has told various media outlets that the trade bans include seafood products from the European Union, the United States, Australia, Canada and Norway. Russian government officials said they are still working on a specific list of products.

Critics are calling the trade bans a retaliatory move against the west after various western nations, including the United States, levied sanctions against Russia as pressure to force Russia to stop intervening in escalating military conflicts in Ukraine.

The trade bans are effectively putting a halt to all seafood to Russia from Europe, North America and Australia, cutting off exports of salmon, mackerel and roes of various species, among other products.

Russia is a major export destination for many nations targeted by the ban, especially Norway. Norwegian media are reporting the bans are causing plunging share prices for Norwegian seafood companies this morning in Oslo.

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