The Russian Fishery Company says it caught 323 thousand tons of fish in 2020. This is a record volume for the company. It exceeds the last year's indicator by 3.15 thousand tons. Compared to 2019 RFC provided the largest absolute increase (14 thousand tons) in Pollock catch among fishing companies, having fully mastered the quota of 283.8 thousand tons.
The production output corresponds to the level of the previous year, while the production of high-margin deep processed products significantly increased. In particular, the production of Pollock fillets and mince increased by 25%, Pollock roe production exceed the last year's level by 19%.
“Increasing the share of products with high added value is one of the strategic goals of the Russian Fishery Company,” commented Viktor Litvinenko, RFC General Director. - The company continues to move confidently in this direction. We have begun to decommission outdated vessels to replace them with modern facilities, which will make harvesting and fish processing more efficient with growing catch volumes. At the end of last year, we received the first supertrawler of the new fleet – “Vladimir Limanov”. The vessel's capacities for the production of deep processed products will allow RFC to increase their output and start producing surimi. "
The new trawler "Vladimir Limanov" will be able to produce about 15 thousand tons of fillets, mince and surimi annually. During the first year of the vessel's operation, it is planned to produce 4-5 thousand tons of new product.
Last year, the first two Russian-built supertrawlers for the RFC were launched at the Admiralty shipyards. They will be delivered to the company in 2021. The coastal fish processing plant "Russian Pollock" with a capacity of up to 155 tons of products per day was put into operation.
In 2020, RFC developed new sales markets: Singapore (Pollock fillet), Poland (Headless Pollock), Spain, Tunisia and Kazakhstan (Herring), Thailand (Sardine) and for the first time supplied Pollock roe to the domestic market. RFC continues to use the group MSC certificate, the holder of which is the Pollock Catchers Association. In order to minimize risks in the market for MSC-certified products, RFC has begun a new certification procedure for this standard. The company plans to expand its presence on the domestic market, produce new types of products and develop new markets, including the surimi market.