Russian fish to Russian shore

In the course of 2009, Russian-caught fish will have a 70 percent domestic market share, First Deputy PM Viktor Zubkov maintains. The development of coastal infrastructure for the fish processing industry is now a government priority, he underlined in a government meeting this week. Mr. Zubkov told his cabinet colleagues that Russian catch of marine bio-resources in 2009 will amount to 3,7 million tons, which will be a 70 percent market share, the Russian government website informs according to Barents Observer. -Such ambitious plans require a quick development of modern infrastructure, which will enable reception, processing and storage of the fish production, transportation and sales to the population for acceptable prices, he said. The first deputy premier has now commissioned the Federal Fishery Agency to come up with a set of proposals on the development of fishery infrastructure. Those proposals will be assessed by government in May, he said. A major part of the necessary investments will have to be made by the industry itself, Zubkov indicated. As Barents Observer has reported, new Russian legislation forces trawlers to land all fish caught in the Russian economic zone in Russian fish ports. The regulation which came into effect on January 1 has boosted the amount of Russian-caught fish in the Russian market. Previously, trawlers landed a major amount of its fish in foreign ports where prices were higher.