Seafood caught by Russian fishermen down 2.7% by Dec. 19 - VARPE

About 72% of the volume was caught in the Far East

From the beginning of the year to December 19, 2022, Russian fishermen have caught 4.751 million tonnes of aquatic bioresources which represents a 2.7% decline on the same period a year earlier, the All-Russia Association of Fishing Industry (VARPE) said on its Telegram channel. About 72% of the total catch volume was in the Far East.

Aquatic food main types included: pollock: 1,8 million tonnes (+12.3% year-on-year); Pacific herring: 445,100 tonnes (+13.7% Y/Y); Pacific salmon: 272,100 tonnes (-49.5% Y/Y); mackerel: 44,500 tonnes (-32.3% Y/Y); Ivasi sardine: 283,100 tonnes (+13%); cod: 454.1 thousand tonnes (-8.7% Y/Y); haddock – 77,800 tonnes (-18.7% Y/Y); sprat – 29,900 tonnes (-1% Y/Y); sprat – 41,100 tonnes (unchanged).

Fish production was to 2.7 million tonnes, which is 2% below 2021 results. Of these, about 1.9 million tonnes were delivered to Russian ports, about 269,260 tonnes are on ships at sea.

In early October, the head of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, Ilya Shestakov, said that, according to the forecast of the agency, the catch of aquatic biological resources in 2022 will remain at the level of last year and exceed 5 million tonnes.