A temporary Russian ban on fresh fish imports from Norway would lead to a spike in salmon and trout prices but would be good news for domestic producers, a Russian executive said.
Last week, Russia’s veterinary agency Rosselkhoznanzor said it had approved a preliminary motion to temporarily stop all imports of Norwegian fresh fish, but said it had not decided on when to put it into force yet.
If imposed, such a measure would severely reduce the raw material available for Russian fish processors, especially those engaged in salting and smoking of fish, the director of one fish processor association, Fish Union, said.
"It will not be easy to replace those amounts of fish delivered from Norway,” Sergey Gudkov (pictured) said. ”As a result the price of fish products may rise by 10 to 15 percent.”
At the same time Gudkov, who is also CEO of Norge Fish, said the move could open up a market niche for domestic salmon and trout producers.
“Domestic output of salmon and trout has been low so far, but is on a positive trend. This year's production of salmon and trout can reach 25,000 metric tons, against 18,000 metric tons last year.
That would still fall drastically short of Russia’s salmon demand. According to the Fish Union, Russia imported 113,000 metric tons of Atlantic salmon in 2011, of which 100,000 metric tons came from Norway. The bulk of the imports -- 97,500 metric tons, including 94,200 from Norway -- consisted of fresh fish.
Trout imports, meanwhile, amounted to 20,000 metric tons, of which 18,000 metric tons were from Norway.
Russia's largest salmon producer is Baltic Coast, which expects to produce 10,000 metric tons this year, but has plans to increase this to 40,000 metric tons.
Another company, Russian Sea Group, only produced 1,500 metric tons last year but has been acquiring sites in a bid to obtain a capacity of 70,000 metric tons.
Meanwhile, Rosselkhoznadzor is continuing its tough stance towards Norway. In an article published on the agency’s website today, the agency’s deputy head Yevgeny Nepoklonov deplored at length the poor quality of Norwegian control on their fish exports, mentioning the possible need for comprehensive restrictions on imports of all fresh fish from Norway
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