At the St. Petersburg exhibition, participants in the Aquaculture Day tried to discover the potential of fish farming in Russia and the world, discussed the most pressing problems in this area of the industry and shared international experience.
At the III Global Fishery Forum & International Seafood Expo Russia exhibition of fish industry, seafood and technology, held on July 10-12 in the Northern Capital of Russia, a series of business events dedicated to aquaculture and mariculture issues was organized. Round-table meetings of experts were organized by the exhibition operator – Expo Solutions Group together with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Eurasian Aquaculture Alliance. Representatives of domestic and foreign specialized bodies of state power, fisheries science and business, industry unions took part in the discussions.
According to FAO, aquaculture as a separate segment is present in the economies of 202 countries, but over the past two decades, 89% of global aquaculture production was accounted for China. In Russia, there is a steady growth in commodity production by about 10% per year.
“Aquaculture plays an important role in Russia, including as a point of growth of the fishery complex as a whole”, said Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Alexey Gordeyev in his greeting to participants of the Aquaculture Day. “The sectoral program for the development of commercial aquaculture involves its production growth to 325 thousand tons by 2020. Today, local production is actively developing, especially in regions where average per capita fish consumption has traditionally been low.”
“Russia has huge fish resources. There are lots of ‘wild fish’. But those regions, which cannot boast such an abundance, are engaged in aquaculture – for example, the Northern regions, where they successfully adopt the experience of neighbors – Norwegians”, said Deputy Head of the Federal Agency Russian for Fisheries Vasily Sokolov. “High-tech productions with ‘good profitability’ are created in the Murmansk region and Karelia, where trout and salmon are bred. And the Central Federal District, we can say, specializes in sturgeon and caviar – products which keep their leading position in monetary terms.”
According to Vasily Sokolov, the regulator’s efforts are focused on the fact that the main support is aimed at industrial farms. “Since the commercial capture has reached the plateau, and a significant production increase is unlikely to be possible, the emphasis on aquaculture is justified on all grounds. Support and focus of the subject have a very important role. If we do not support the economy at the initial stage of development, fish farming has few chances for survival and development,” said Deputy Head of the Federal Agency Russian for Fisheries.
Experts promise a positive general forecast for the Russian aquaculture, although Russia is inferior to a number of other countries which have drawn attention to this promising fisheries industry. The top ten of these countries includes Turkey, where about 2.5 thousand companies are engaged in fish rearing, and 81 regional offices for commercial fish rearing are opened in the provinces. “In a short historical period, we have increased the volume of aquaculture production by 100 times, in particular, due to the national program for the industry development and an established monitoring and control system,” said the Director General for fisheries and aquaculture of the Ministry of Agriculture of Turkey Altug Atalay, who also emphasized the experience of public-private partnership.
The limits to the growth of commercial fish capture will inevitably make it necessary to compensate for the lack of development of aquaculture and mariculture, said Marcio Castro de Souza, Senior Fishery Officer at FAO. The expert predicts that the production of aquaculture products will reach 100 million tons in the foreseeable future and will exceed the volume of commercial fishing. “Progress will be facilitated by positive changes in the field of research and technology in aquaculture, i.e. high-quality planning, including when developing strategies and tactics. Higher technological level of fish rearing process, supported by research in the field of genetics and selection. Improving biosafety measures, applying revolutionary engineering solutions and more advanced mechanisms, as well as modern business models and competent management,” said the FAO representative.
Representatives of companies from Norway, Denmark, Israel, Iceland, who are actively involved in the development of commercial fish farming and supply equipment and technologies to Russia, also spoke at the round tables on the Aquaculture Day. Experts from RSHB-Insurance, Ingosstrakh, American International Group - AIG Russia advised the participants on financing and liability insurance issues.
