Prospects and Needs of the Fishery Industry: All Vessels at Seafood Expo Russia

Prospects and Needs of the Fishery Industry: All Vessels at Seafood Expo Russia
6 April 2023

Many years of efforts to organize a dialogue between customers and shipyards at Seafood Expo Russia have borne fruit - the exhibition has become a central place not only for discussing key issues, but also for signing major contracts. It was the orders from the fishing industry that ensured the revival of the civil shipbuilding and ship repair industry. The interest of the country's top leadership in scaling and localizing production processes determined the greater involvement of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, whose authorized representatives this year will take part in several events of the business program of the forum and exhibition.

Word and Deed

The campaign to modernize the fleet and processing facilities of the fishing industry has presented a number of issues for the industry, the resolution of which required thoughtful dialogue between customers, the regulator, design offices, shipyards and equipment manufacturers. Seafood Expo Russia provided them with such an opportunity - in order to help all participants in this great process to hear and better understand each other, the exhibition annually organizes events for personal communication between representatives of all interested parties, within which they can discuss intermediate results, current needs and ways solutions. This format turned out to be very convenient for fishermen: they were able not only to directly ask their questions, but also to learn how similar problems are solved by other industry players, design bureaus and shipbuilding enterprises. This year, representatives of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will also take part in such an event. Deputy Head of Department Viktor Yevtukhov already attended the event in 2022 and participated in the plenary session of the business program of the forum. He highly appreciated the organization of the exhibition, noting that “it is on such a platform that one can develop modern solutions and find new partners.”

The large-scale renewal of the fleet made us take a fresh look at the state of affairs in the civil shipbuilding industry in Russia, which had to adapt to the requirements on the go. This was how an equally important task was solved - the acquisition by shipyards of the competencies necessary for building ships and scaling production. Such "tectonic" changes are always accompanied by a large number of structural contradictions, and their success depends on the timely development of each participant in a large process. To create conditions for this, the organizers of the Seafood Expo Russia exhibition, together with the industry, work throughout the year on those nuances that may go unnoticed by the most experienced shipbuilding enterprises, but are critical for the infrastructure of the fishing industry.

From Research to Catch – and Back Again

For more than 5 years of the investment quota program, the main contradictions between the parties have become obvious. The importance of fleet modernization for the development of the industry is the same. Mechanisms have also been created that will help develop competencies, convert the experience gained into implemented projects, and increase the production pace. Today, in the face of sanctions pressure, in order to expand production, it is important to maintain the achieved coordination between departments and enterprises, the continuity of processes and the resource provision of the industry. The significance of the more involved participation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is largely connected with this.

“Issues of shipbuilding in the interests of the fishing industry affect various industry participants and the competence of several relevant departments. The position and contribution of each of them are indispensable for the organization of a sustainable process that will be the solution to the problem of fleet renewal. These issues are discussed at different venues, but it is at Seafood Expo Russia that we create the conditions for concluding contracts and their high-quality execution,” said Ivan Fetisov, CEO of Expo Solutions Group.

Keel quotas have already yielded the first results – the world's most modern seiners, trawlers, longline and crab catchers are entering the fishery, and fish processing enterprises are also being put into operation. Ahead is the second stage of the campaign, but at the same time, the industry is also thinking about updating the small-tonnage fleet in the Northern and Far Eastern basins, including for harvesting bioresources, the extraction quotas of which are not set. At the moment, there are no investment support measures for its construction, but there is a possibility of obtaining a subsidy. Reimbursement of up to 30% of the cost of the vessel is provided within the framework of the program for the development of shipbuilding and equipment for the development of offshore fields in the absence of other support measures. The selection of projects in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of December 27, 2019 No. 1917 is carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Research vessels are also not included in the list of investment objects, but the industry's demand for them remains high. At the end of 2021, two research vessels of project 17050, Professor Anatoly Elizarov and Professor Pyotr Moiseev, were laid down at the Nevsky Shipbuilding and Ship Repair Plant for the head industry institute, VNIRO. At the Belogorodskaya Shipyard shipyard, the R/V Vikenty Zaitsev was laid down, specially designed to carry out large-scale research work on the largest freshwater lake in Eurasia - Baikal. It is also planned to build a large-capacity marine R/V project 23460. But even they will not fully support the industry's large-scale plans to expand fishing in inland waters, territorial waters and the World Ocean, which require extensive research work.

What Other Ships Does the Industry Need

For the full development of the fishery industry, vessels of various types are required. Not only for fishing and research, but also for the transportation of catches, fish protection and auxiliary work. According to the draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation, at the second stage of the investment quota campaign, it is proposed to include a transport refrigerator in the list of investment objects for pollock and herring production quotas. The norm in the project is provided only for the Far East basin and for vessels with a length of at least 120 m, but in the future the list of vessels and fishery basins may be expanded.

The transport fleet is of particular importance in the context of changes in the usual domestic and international logistics routes and plans to increase sea transportation, including using the Northern Sea Route. Refrigerated ships can be used both in the ongoing infrastructure of a continuous cold chain when transporting perishable products in Russia, and for long-distance, including transcontinental, transportation of fish products. In connection with the worsening food crisis in the world, interest in fish and seafood from Russia is growing. Although the volume of container transportation of fish products by rail is increasing, exporters need a refrigerated fleet to meet the current and future needs of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America.

The comprehensive development of the infrastructure of the fishing industry also depends on a sufficient number of auxiliary vessels for fish protection and land reclamation, boats and tugboats. In addition, in connection with the development of the aqua and mariculture sector, there is a growing interest in small and medium-sized vessels, which are used for feeding, setting up netting gear, delivering auxiliary cargo and fish products, as well as other related operations. The industry is also eyeing another type of aquaculture vessel – floating farms.

Strategic Approach to Fishing Ports

Along with the modernization of the fleet and production facilities, the port infrastructure is also being updated. With the entry into the fishery of new vessels, the need for the provision of services increases: loading and unloading activities, storage of fish and seafood, maintenance and bunkering. In addition, the requirements for the quality of such services and the infrastructure of ports as a whole are increasing. The results of the entire large-scale modernization campaign of the fishery industry largely depend on its productivity and throughput.

The seaports infrastructure development program is regulated by the Strategy adopted by the Maritime Board under the Government of the Russian Federation. A separate event of the business program at Seafood Expo Russia 2022 was devoted to its implementation and the use of public-private partnership mechanisms to accelerate the modernization of the coastlines of ports, road and rail access to them. further development of the sea port infrastructure, taking into account the development priorities of Russia. Comprehensive modernization of the industry is possible only if processes are synchronized, so experts and representatives of stakeholders will meet again this year.

VI Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo Russia 2023 will be held on October 18-20 at the Expoforum Exhibition and Convention Center in St. Petersburg. The event will once again bring together on its site all aspects of the fishery industry and interrelated areas that ensure its functioning and development. Like last year, the exposition of shipbuilding and ship repair, along with equipment, will be located in a separate pavilion. The issues of building vessels of various types for the fishing industry will take an important place on the agenda of both central and specialized events of the business program.