The Russian crab quota for 2015 is set to 8000 tons. However, more than 60 percent of it will be exported. In Murmansk, you will hardly be able to find a piece of crab it at all, at least if you look in the local supermarkets.
Meanwhile, the local Arctic waters are flooding with crabs. According to marine researchers, the crab stocks are bigger than in several years. The local fisheries research institute PINRO estimates the number of crabs in the Russian part of the Barents Sea to 20 million, newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports.
The reason why one of Russia’s leading fisheries regions does not have crab for sale is not only the lack of local processing plants, but first of all federal quota regulations.
Over several years, federal authorities have banned crab fishing in coastal waters, arguing that the crab needs protection. The moratorium includes the whole 12 mile zone.
The researchers argue that mostly young crabs inhabit the coastal waters, and that commercial catch should only be allowed on bigger crabs in deeper ocean waters. The crab industry however disagrees.
Mikhail Minasyan, leader of a local fisheries company, says to RG.ru that the researchers have not conducted studies on crab fishing in coastal fishing below 50 meter depths. Furthermore, he stresses that the crab fishing industry easily can throw out the under-sized animals.
The crab moratorium has created a headache for local fishermen. Many have paid millions for quotas, which now can not be acquired, Minasyan says.
Meanwhile, just few kilometers away in neighboring Norway, crab fishing has become a profitable industry not only for the big commercial companies, but also for local stakeholders. In 2014, more than 1000 tons of crab was caught in the waters off eastern Finnmark, the easternmost part of Arctic Norway. Most of it was caught within the 12 mile zone, and some of it even by the local population which is entitled to catch a certain quantity for private consumption.
The need for a liberalized Russian catch regime is gaining relevance as the Russian sanction regime against western countries includes all fish and fisheries products. That has resulted in a major price hike on seafood products. As illustrated by Patchwork Barents, a regional data portal, consumer price growth on fish products only in January 2015 amounted to more than 8 percent.
Crab has always been an exclusive product in Murmansk. However, the PWBarents data show that also regular fish products are about to reach a price level not within reach for many local consumers.
