Fish sector keeps growing in Karelia
In the Barents Sea in 2010 the fishing companies of Karelia have been allocated the following commercial capture quotas for offshore and inshore operations: 41,909.5 tonnes of cod and haddock, 4676.1 tonnes of capelin, 8.26 tonnes of sea scallops and 65.65 tonnes of crabs.
In the first quarter 2010 Karelia's cod and haddock harvest amounted to 7629.4 tonnes, the total bottomfish catch, bycatch inclusive, amounted to 8495.8 tonnes. The leading harvesters were OOO RK Virma (ltd), OOO Kuzema (ltd) and OOO Baza Tralovogo Flota (ltd). Through three months of the current year 2010 the quota has been covered at 91.4%.
In the White Sea the total harvest amounted to 153.3 tonnes, including 22.4 tonnes of herring and 130.9 tonnes of wachna cod, nearly two times higher than the result of the first quarter 2009.
The catch results in foreign zones and convention areas were also fairly good. In 2010 Karelian fishing companies have received the following capture quotas: 402.8 tonnes of mackerel and 1410.3 tonnes of blue whiting in the Faroese fishing zone, 11,558.9 tonnes of herring and 721.4 tonnes of blue whiting in the Norwegian EEZ, 1483.8 tonnes of ocean perch and 726.1 tonnes of blue whiting in the NEAFC area and 113.1 tonnes of halibut in the NAFO zone.
In the first quarter 2010 the total herring catch of OOO Unifish (ltd), OOO Karelryba (ltd) and RK Virma in the Norwegian economic zone amounted to 2165.5 tonnes.
Karelia's total harvest of aquatic biological resources as per 1 April 2010 amounted to 14,951.9 tonnes, 2100.8 tonnes up on the respective result of 2009.
Output of seafood products has been also growing to 13,681 tonnes in January-March 2010, 1835.5 tonnes or 15.5% up on 2009. Production rises have been showed by such Karelian companies as OOO Virma, OAO Karelskiye Moreprodukty, OOO RK Virma, OOO PTF Karelryba, Belomor and Zarya Severa fishing co-ops.
As compared to the respective period of 2009, chilled fish production jumped 1.2 times and output of herring products rose 1.8 times.
In terms of value the total shipments of products made by the republic's processing facilities, operations and services, excluding the VAT, excises and other payments associated with the economic activity amounted to 450.3 million RUB in the first quarter of 2010, 73.4 million RUB up on the respective result of last year.