About 80 percent of the once powerful regional fish processing industry is now left without raw materials, and the 12 processing companies in the region are all threatened by collapse, newspaper Izvestia reports. According to a representative of the regional industry the volumes landed in Murmansk Oblast have dropped by almost 50 percent over the last few months.
The background for the development is the new federal law on fisheries which came into force in July this year. The legislation allows the coastal fishing vessels to freeze their catch on board and to engage in ship-to-ship deliveries of products.
The result is that the coastal fishing vessels no longer land their catch to land-based reception and reprocessing plants. Of the 15 companies which previously landed their catch in the processing plants, only three are left, the newspaper reports. The fish caught off the coast of the Kola Peninsula is now exported and processed by foreign companies.
While the fishing vessels in the Barents Sea for many years have exported their catch, the coastal vessels have until now landed their catch in Murmansk.
The negative trend has consequences also for the regional fish prices. The price on haddock has over the last months increased from 70 to 95 rubles (€2,15) per kilo and the price on cod from 75 to 105 rubles (€2,38). The prices could increase another 20-25 percent over the next months, experts say. The trend is giving a subsequent major drop also in fish consuption.
Paradoxically, the situation comes in a period with historically rich stocks in the Barents Sea. In neighboring Norway, the major cod catch are giving a new low in prices. According to figures from the Norwegian Fishermen’s Sales Organization, the average price per kilo on cod in October was 12,8 Norwegian kroner (€1,47).
Murmansk regional fish industry interests now call on the federal authorities to amend the new law. In a meeting with representatives of the State Duma this week, leader of the Murmansk Fishery Committee Oleg Zabolotsky proposed ways to solve the situation, a press release from the Murmansk government press service reads. The industry now want to force the coastal fishing vessels to return the catch to Murmansk, either by disallowing the vessels to deliver catch to bigger vessels or by exempting cod and haddock from the new law.
