Seafood buyers from Ukraine are visiting Alaska this month to discuss with the state how to rebuild trade relationships with a country that is renowned for its love of smoked fish and salmon roe.
As recently as 2013, Ukraine was annually importing more than USD 100 million (EUR 85.4 million) worth of seafood from the United States, with the majority of it being from Alaska. But after the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2015 and the subsequent collapse of the Ukraine’s currency, imports fell significantly. But the economy and the political scene have now stabilized enough that demand for U.S. seafood is once again rising in The Ukraine.
"The Ukrainian market is a growing market for U.S. seafood exports, and therefore it makes sense for Alaska to be part of that presence," Jeremy Woodrow of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute told KUCB. "It's definitely not as large as, say, Japan or China or maybe some other countries in Europe, but it is a growing market," he said. "And it's always good to have new customers and a growing demand for our products. It creates competition, and competition usually helps drive value."
Six Ukrainian representatives will be touring Alaskan processing plants and fishing boats from 22 to 25 July and will also make stops in Juneau and Seattle at the end of the month.
The Ukrainian interest comes at a perilous time for the Alaskan seafood industry. Last year, Alaska sent 54 percent of its seafood exports to China, in total worth USD 1.3 billion (EUR 1.1 billion). However, as a result of the recently declared trade war with Beijing, Alaskan exporters face new tariffs on nearly all seafood they send to China, including cod, geoduck, Dungeness crab, herring, salmon and pollock.
