To study the art of hairdressing, Grebennikov flew to Japan and visited local farms.
Photo: Natalya VARSEGOVA. Go to Photobank KP
In Russia, scallops are not as popular a dish as, for example, in the long-established country of Japan. However, for us it is no longer a wonder. Meanwhile, scallops not only have an exquisite taste (see “KP Recipe”), but medicine recommends this product as very healthy: it contains many substances valuable for the body, such as iodine, phosphorus, calcium, iron, etc.
The scallop itself is a bivalve mollusk. Both of its doors are like plates: the lower one is deeper, and the upper one is flat. The most valuable thing inside is the edible muscle (also called “suckers”). Scallops vary in size. The largest are sea ones; their shells can grow up to 14-18 cm in diameter. They are the most delicious. In general, the south of Primorye is a unique place for scallops. Here, in the Gulf of Peter the Great, two currents mix. The Sea of Okhotsk carries clean, cold, oxygen-rich water. Tsushima – food supply – phytozooplankton. All this creates ideal conditions for scallops. And in warm water it dies. Therefore, it is not grown in the Black Sea, but in the Arctic and the Kuril Islands, please.
At an electronic auction, Vasily bought 120 hectares of water surface in Vityaz Bay.
Photo: Natalya VARSEGOVA. Go to Photobank KP
FROM MINSK TO PRIMORIA
Since college, Vasily, a resident of Minsk, has spent most of his time in Europe. And, of course, he could not imagine that fate would throw him near Vladivostok. In the 90s, Vasily Grebennikov, after studying civil engineering, went to London and worked there in construction. Then, in Stockholm, at the Royal Technical Institute, he studied finance. But in 2004 he received a valuable offer from Moscow to work in a prestigious international consulting company. He started a family in the Russian capital. However, on his first business trip to Primorye, Vasily was so fascinated by the Far East that he realized that this was his home and his real business.
So, together with his wife and two-year-old daughter, Vasily Grebennikov settled at the “end of the world” in 2016, and three years later he founded a seafood farm for growing scallops. This curiosity is highly valued in the countries of the East. And Vasily Grebennikov initially focused on China.
“In Primorye, about 70 thousand hectares of water surface are distributed among the tenants,” Vasily explains the arithmetic of seafood to me. – They can grow hundreds of thousands of tons of scallops, mussels, oysters and sea cucumbers. If we transfer the entire volume to the Chinese market, it will be a drop in the ocean for them. That is why our seafood is in great demand there. Almost all local fishing farms work for China, where, for example, our scallop is a premium product, as it is grown in clean sea water. In China, almost everything is “enriched” with industrial waste. At first I also planned to sell my product to the Chinese, but everything went wrong.
Vasily sold his first product for 400 rubles per kilogram.
Photo: Natalya VARSEGOVA. Go to Photobank KP
TRADE, EQUIPMENT AND BANDITS
At an electronic auction, Vasily bought 120 hectares of water surface in Vityaz Bay. The territorial waters are owned by the Russian Federation and managed by Rosrybolovstvo. Based on the results of the tender for a sum of several million, a water lease agreement was concluded for 25 years with the condition of producing a certain volume of products. In the first year, the future farmer invested more than 25 million rubles, and in the second – the same amount.
To study the art of combing, Grebennikov flew to Japan and visited local farms. He also bought equipment there: special nets on a metal wire frame in which mollusks grow. They are not made in Russia. An important advantage is that the scallop business is good because it does not require feed or larvae. The sea gives everything. You only have time to show off the equipment.
“All bays are different, in some places there are many scallops, in others just a few,” says Vasily, “pulling cages out of the sea to show me a growing scallop.”
– And how to choose the right bay?
– It’s not easy. There are many factors. But luck is also important…
Today Grebennikov has the largest share of the Russian live scallop market.
Photo: Natalya VARSEGOVA. Go to Photobank KP
It is believed that the gangsters of the nineties, even in the Far East, have long since sunk into oblivion. This may be true, but there are still gloomy people who try to take away what does not belong to them. Vasily went to the police, but they told him that they could not guard all the gardens. They advised Grebennikov to solve problems with gloomy people in the same way as other farmers solve them: by hiring armed guards on ships. Vasily followed the advice: now he spends up to 30% of his total costs on security.
I PLANTED A GARDEN IN THE SEA
Vasily built the sea garden himself and hired several workers to help him: he pulled ropes (main lines) with floats and hung harvesting equipment from them. Out of understanding. The scallop spawns in May. Females release eggs, males release milk. Larvae are formed, which simply float with the current for several days and then attach to some surface to grow. That’s what collectors are for.
Generally, the scallop grows up to 5 years. In the first year it grows up to 1 cm in diameter; it is a juvenile. It is transplanted into other cages that are freer to grow. After six months, the scallop, which has grown to 2-3 cm, is lowered to the bottom, from where divers collect it two years later.
“In 2020, I harvested the first juveniles and sold them to other farms for further cultivation,” Vasily says. – This is how I got my first working capital for business development. In addition, I also borrowed money from investors, who were then supposed to take a share. I had a great harvest and, according to the plan, I planned to sell 80 tons of scallops in 2021. The income would be enough to pay off part of the debts and for development.
TYPHOON + PANDEMIC
But on September 4, 2020, Typhoon Maysak hit Primorye with the force it does once every 75 years. It swept the entire farm into the ocean. Only the equipment for breeding young fish survived.
“I was left penniless, with a wife, two daughters (the youngest was only two years old) and a rented house,” the farmer recalls.
– Surely everything was insured? – I asked.
– No! Insurance companies do not insure this type of business due to its high risks.
Fortunately, investors gave the novice farmer another chance and postponed the payment of previous debts. In the fall of 2020, Vasily planted a new crop.
– And in 2021 I bought my first commercial scallop weighing about 100 grams, offered it to restaurants and they made a face: “Why do we need such a small thing?” A scallop weighing about 300 grams is considered normal.
But I persuaded them to try it; the taste of the tender scallop was very delicate and subtle. The big ones are completely different. So, a new item appeared on the menu of some establishments, the “scallop with milk”.
Vasily sold his first product for 400 rubles per kilogram.
The delivery of scallops is, by the way, a separate art. A very delicate product spoils quickly.
Photo: Natalya VARSEGOVA. Go to Photobank KP
THERE WOULD BE NO HAPPINESS BUT THE PANDEMIC CAME
In 2021, China closed its borders due to the coronavirus. The farms that bought juveniles from Vasily to grow and resell them to the Chinese stopped cooperating with Grebennikov. Vasily, with his monstrous debts, urgently needed to find a way out of the situation. He started calling potential Russian buyers: both restaurants and private owners. He convinced them and delivered seafood to their homes.
In this way, the farmer gradually gained reliable partners throughout Russia, including Moscow, St. Petersburg, Irkutsk, Voronezh, Sochi…
Today Grebennikov has the largest share of the Russian live scallop market. Live means in the shell. There are also filleted and frozen ones. Grebennikov produces 40-50 tons of products a year. Annual turnover is about 30 million rubles. There are no problems with sales. There are more orders than he can handle.
Delivery of scallops is, by the way, a separate art. A very delicate product spoils quickly. It cannot be taken out of the sea, packaged and sent. The customer will receive rotten meat. At Grebennikov’s farm, divers pull a scallop from the bottom and immerse it in a cold pool, where it enters suspended animation. The sleeping mollusk is placed in thermal containers so that the sea water remains in the lower convex valve and does not allow the gills to dry out; this way the scallops reach customers still alive and can live in aquariums for some time.
“We sell live scallops,” Vasily says, “for 900 rubles per kilo, and in a restaurant they are served for two or three times that price.” But our people have tried this delicacy and the demand for it is only growing.
“There is something wonderful about this,” Vasily continues, “you go on a motor boat to the sea, cross the bay, stop in front of the rocky shore, where balls attached to ropes-crests float, swinging on the waves, and you understand: here, at a depth of 20 to 30 meters, lies the wealth that you carefully cultivate.
“KP” RECIPE
Scallops are so beautiful that the main thing when preparing them is not to spoil the taste with additives. On the Internet they advise cooking them with pieces of stale bread, grated cheese and other natural flavor enhancers. These recipes have a right to life if you eat scallops three times a week and want to diversify your sensations. And if you buy scallops from time to time, like we do, here is a simple recipe that will enhance and not spoil the taste of this seafood.
We take the scallops by the flap. Place a small square piece of butter on each of them (the length of the edge is about 1 cm, the thickness is about 3 mm). Sprinkle a pinch of dried dill and black pepper on top. Place on a baking sheet and place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 12 minutes. The finished scallop can be “drinked” together with the melted butter directly from the shell, sprinkled with lemon juice.
Pairs perfectly with white wine or beer.
Together with his wife and two-year-old daughter, Vasily Grebennikov settled at the “end of the world” in 2016 and three years later founded a seafood farm for growing scallops.
Photo: Natalya VARSEGOVA. Go to Photobank KP
EXPERT COMMENT
President of the All-Russian Association of Fishing Industry (VARPE) German Zverev:
– Most of the scallops in Russia are farmed in Primorye. Not so long ago, mariculture began to develop on the Kuril Islands: in 2022, local farmers harvested the first harvest of scallops. Russia is also a major producer of wild scallops: last year’s catch amounted to 9.2 thousand tons. Our scallop is in demand in the Russian and foreign markets; priority is given to the domestic market in supply. If the volumes of wild catch are limited by natural factors (primarily the limited supply of this rare mollusk), then the volumes of cultivation are to a certain extent unlimited. Therefore, the constant demand for products stimulates the creation of new farms. From a geographical point of view, we have all the conditions to increase the volumes of scallop production. At the same time, the complex and costly system of access to direct activities and the overregulation of the sector from the point of view of environmental legislation limit the potential for its development.
