Moscow's frozen seafood market preparing for turn-of-the-year boom
As per early December 2009 Moscow's seafood market has been showing both negative and positive price trends, analysts of www.fishnet-russia.com (www.fishnet.ru) concluded after analyzing the current situation on the market.
More specifically, prices have been falling for Atlantic herring and mackerel, while prices for pink salmon, trout, pangasius and tilapia have started rising.
The market participants hope that in December 2009 the demand will be gathering momentum and such sales downfall as in 2008 will not happen this year. The crisis of the second half of 2008 has exerted a great impact on the sales progress in the festive period.
Catch
As per 30 November 2009 Russia's total harvest of finfish and other aquatic species amounted to 3,343,100 tonnes, 332,700 tonnes up on the corresponding result of 2008. The TACs were covered at 84%, 11.1% up on the corresponding result of last year.
FAO
At the conference in Rome FAO has approved an agreement on prevention, deterrence and elimination of IUU fisheries and Russia can be one of the first signatories of the agreement.
In the meantime, Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency has forwarded for Government's consideration a draft order on defining a competent body for issue of catch certificates specifying origin of the harvest. The need to define such body has come out of the EU Council Regulation (EC) No 1005/2008 of 29 September 2008 establishing a Community system to prevent, deter and eliminate illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. According to the Regulation, as of 1 January 2009 export of aquatic biological resources and products made from them to the EU state is possible only subject to presence of catch certificate confirming the catch area and date.
Salmon auction
On 23 November 2009 the Federal Antimonopoly Service initiated a law suit on violation of the nation's antimonopoly legislation by Russia's Fisheries Agency in connection with cancellation of the auction on quota shares for Pacific salmon capture in the Russian EEZ which should have been held in August 2009.
The Russian fishing companies and associations say that as a result of cancellation of the auction the nation's fishermen have not only lost the opportunity to harvest Pacific salmons, but also suffered big losses estimated at ca. RUB1billion. The loss of the federal budget is forecasted at RUB500 million. The unreceived profit is claimed to exceed RUB2.5 billion.
Single customs territory
Presidents of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan have signed a pack of documents on establishing a customs union as of 1 January 2010. Starting from 1 July 2010 a single customs territory shall be in force in Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Vet update
Russia's Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance Rosselkhoznadzor has suspended activity of 30 seafood transporters in Moscow. According to the Service's order, all the companies engaged in transportation and storage of seafood products should have passed checks before 1 December 2009. Their activity can be resumed after a repeated check if they eliminate all the violations.
According to the government's order No.1759 dated 23 November 2009, head of the Agency's Department on Science and Education Mr. Vladimir Belyaev and head of the Agency's Department on International Cooperation Mr. Sergey Simakov have been appointed representatives of the Russian Federation in the Russian-Faroese Mixed Fisheries Commission established according to the Agreement dated 27 November 1977 between the governments of the USSR and Denmark/Faeroe on mutual relationship in the sphere of fisheries.