Results of Murmansk fish farmers in January-September 2007 indicative of future growth
In the year 2007 seven Murmansk-based companies have been engaged in fish farming in the province (up from 6 companies in 2006). More specifically, two businesses, IP Gorbunov V.M. and OOO Severnyi Project (ltd), have been ongrowing crabs under research cooperation projects. Three companies, OOO Severnyi Forpost (ltd), OOO Barents Leasing Company (ltd) and OAO Kolenergo (plc), have been growing rainbow trout and its juveniles for stocking, while Atlantic salmon has been cultured by OOO Gigante Pechenga (ltd) and OOO Russian Salmon which has started production as of the second half of 2007. In October 2007 Russian Salmon stocked 5 cages with 300,000 salmon juveniles with the average weight of 96 grams. According to the project, in three years the farm will sell 5000-6000 tonnes of market-size Atlantic salmon. In January-September 2007 Murmansk fish farms did not yet receive subsidies towards part compensation of interest rates under the national project "Development of Agricultural Complex" either from the federal budget or the province's budget.
The analysis of fish farming operations as well as the analysis of efficiency of the existing regional program "Development of Inshore Fishery, Aquaculture and Inland Fishery in Murmansk Province in 2004-2008" have discovered that on the federal level there is a lack of regulatory economic-financial mechanisms, scientific and production base as well as modern fish farming biotechnologies which could push the industry dramatically forward.
In order to drastically change the situation and solve the existing problems it is necessary to take the following steps:
- On the federal level there is a need to speed up development of regulatory documents concerning fishing sites and approval of the lists of the given sites towards their further distribution between the users on a tender basis;
- It is necessary to introduce addenda in the existing regulatory acts on granting subsidies to the companies engaged in commercial fish farming in order to partly compensate the interest rates of their investment loans in a more straight forward way. Besides the farmers should receive subsidies for fish feeds purchases.