The media and Telegram channels began to talk about the incredible: the shortage of pollock. It turns out that the reserves of this fish in the waters of the Far East are not unlimited. For example, in the Bering Sea there are signs of resource depletion. The industry is debating whether to reduce quotas and allow the pollock population to recover, or fish even more so the budget is not affected. Komsomolskaya Pravda tried to find out what logic is preferable to the interests of the country and the interests of Russians.
DIFFICULT FISHING
In fact, everything is fine with pollock in Russia. This is our main fish and accounts for 35 percent of all fishing in Russian waters. According to the president of the Pollock Harvesters Association, Alexei Buglak, as of October 1, 1.7 million tons had already been caught, so there is definitely no shortage on the shelves. On the contrary, this year the sales price of frozen pollock in Russia has even decreased, that is, supply exceeds demand.
But just in the Bering Sea, yes, there has been a delay. This is the second most important fishing area for Far Eastern pollock after the Sea of Okhotsk. Quotas in the area have risen rapidly in recent years, but fishermen are now sounding the alarm: this year, trawlers spent more than 50 percent of their time at sea searching for schools of pollock, compared to just the 30 percent last year. Before, even less, throw the trawl net and take it out.
“In fact, fishing in the Bering Sea this year is difficult,” Alexey Buglak told the Prime agency. – As of October 1, 402 thousand tons were caught, 21 percent less than in the same period last year. At the same time, pollock production in other fishing areas remains at the same level, in some places it even exceeds it. We expect that by the end of the year the total catch will be 1.9 million tonnes, slightly less than in the record year of 2023. This will be approximately 30 percent higher than that of the United States, with which we share the market haddock world.
Meanwhile, according to Lenta.Ru, last summer there were between 28 and 37 fishing boats fishing in the Bering Sea, and this year between 31 and 44. That is, there are more fishermen at sea, but fewer catches. The average production volume per vessel was 16 to 33 percent lower than a year ago. According to experts, this year the Bering Sea quota (705 thousand tons of pollock) may not be completely filled.
For fishermen, such a sharp decline in catchability is like a knife in the heart. Companies are already suffering losses: if you wander around the ocean while fishing and burning fuel, you won’t make much. But above all they are concerned about the reasons for what is happening and the possible decline in pollock populations in the sea. Scientists are still studying what’s what. But the country’s largest fishing associations have already supported the idea of reducing the total allowable catch (TAC) in the Bering Sea for next year. The vast majority of fishermen are really willing to tighten their belts, reduce production and let the pollock “gain weight,” industry interlocutors confirmed to Komsomolskaya Pravda.
This will not affect the Russian market; The demand is already satisfied. Well, abroad, due to sanctions on Russian pollock, they began to receive less. Well, old Europe, the main consumer of pollock, will have to buy from the Americans at exorbitant prices. If earlier Russian pollock fillets in the Old World were 3 percent cheaper than American ones, now the difference has reached 19 percent. In general, to spite my grandmother, I will freeze my ears: they will live on expensive fish and maybe they will begin to appreciate ours.
WIDE RANGE OF FISHERMEN
It would seem that we can close the topic. But it suddenly turned out that not everyone supported the concept. The other day, Alexander Efremov, director of the Primorye company Dobroflot, spoke in exactly the opposite tone. In his opinion, it is not necessary to reduce the quotas, but, on the contrary, increase them. Up to a million tons.
“Profitability per 1 kg of pollock production will decrease, but it will not be negative,” Efremov said in an interview with Vedomosti.
Efremov proposed replacing quotas for pollock production in the Bering Sea with a declaratory “Olympic system.” It’s a competition to see who can catch the most and the fastest. The total fishing quota for the area is determined, the companies – whatever they may be – declare their intention to fish – and seven feet under the keel… When the general quota is exhausted, fishing stops in the entire area. Whoever had time, ate it.
“In this case, a wide range of fishermen will have access to the commercial population,” Efremov said.
The position is understandable. Now, to increase their fish production quotas, Russian companies must participate in special auctions or the “keel quota” program. The essence of the program is that the company builds a boat in a Russian plant, and in exchange the state gives it a quota for the production of pollock, herring and other popular types of Russian fish. Dobroflot is not building a new fleet, but fishing on old, mostly foreign, vessels. Of course, in such a situation, this company will defend the “Olympic system” to, together with a “wide range of fishermen”, catch more fish than now.
Probably, in this case the budget will really benefit. First of all. But soon a wide circle of fishermen will abandon the Bering Sea, because the banks will be so large that even they will have nothing to fish. And then the Bering Sea and the budget will have to wait years for the new pollock to grow and reproduce. And the Russians will completely forget about cheap pollock for a long time because, as businessmen always say, “the volume of supply is less, the prices are higher.”
OLYMPIC FLIGHT
However, Dobroflot was not always concerned about the Russian market. For example, in the spring of 2022, the price of a can of saury rose sharply from 219 – 225 to 245 – 300 rubles. When the residents of Primorye expressed their extreme discontent, Alexander Efremov explained it by the dollar exchange rate. He then explained the increase in pollock prices by the fact that it is more profitable to sell the product in foreign markets.
The proposed “Olympic” principle is worth mentioning separately. This system is not new for Russia. It is justified when the State needs intensive development of resources that enter our waters for a short time and then migrate. For example, the Iwashi sardine, which disappears for 20 years and then returns en masse. But it’s not Bering Sea pollock, is it?
Experts also point out shortcomings in the application system. In practice, this always leads to exceeding the established limit, because the ban on fishing takes time after the quota has been taken, and until it is introduced, everyone continues to fish without restrictions, fishermen explained to Komsomolskaya Pravda. Additionally, any number of companies can apply. In the early 2010s, an application system for smelt fishing was introduced in the Kaliningrad region and 68 (!) companies submitted applications. It is very difficult to establish complete control over such a crowd.
How many companies will come to the Olympic Light on the Bering Sea? And what type of companies will they be? Many legal entities can be found associated with foreign companies, mainly Korean ones. The plan has been in the works for a long time: they show up, catch everything they can, and then “sell” the catch to foreign owners for a nominal price. We’ve been through this before: in the 1990s, more than half of the pollock catches in the Bering Sea were controlled by foreigners. They were then provided with such access by the American authorities, who introduced the “Olympic principle” to their part of the Bering Sea.
Russia closely monitors that foreigners do not get their hands on our strategic fishing industry. In 2015, Vladimir Putin even signed a special order “On strengthening work to identify transactions that allow the possibility of managing domestic fishing organizations and establishing control over them by foreign citizens and foreign legal entities.” The title is long, but understandable. The “Olympic system” in the Bering Sea is unlikely to correspond to presidential instructions.
COINCIDENCE OF INTERESTS
The issue of reducing quotas and the total allowable catch in the Bering Sea has not yet been resolved. In the summer it was discussed at a meeting in Rosrybolovstvo; “it’s still on the agenda.” At the same time, as agency representatives point out, the total allowable catch will be determined on the basis of scientific data and the economic interests of the country. This is logical and reasonable, fishermen believe.
Speaking about the interests of the country, one more aspect cannot be ignored. Above were mentioned “keel quotas”, according to which, as a rule, large-capacity fishing vessels are built. The first stage of this program began in 2017. At this year’s Eastern Economic Forum, the head of Rosrybolovstvo, Ilya Shestakov, said: the investment quota mechanism made it possible to attract 270 billion rubles for the construction of processing plants, ships , the development of ship repair and related industries.
And in February, Vladimir Putin also referred to investment quotas in his speech to the Federal Assembly.
“Let me remind you that we have a ‘keel quota’ rule,” the president said. – Must be strictly followed. The point is that companies receive quotas for the production of seafood under the obligation to buy new Russian-made fishing boats to renew the fleet.
What I mean is that many large-tonnage ships – those that need a complete Bering Sea pollock to be profitable – are built precisely under the investment quota program. The companies that own these trawlers invest billions in the development of the fishing industry and coastal regions. If we talk about the interests of the country, they largely coincide with the interests of these companies. And look for short-term profits with the risk of ruining fishing for the most popular fish in the entire sea… In general, it is a shoal, and that’s it.
