The volume of world production in the ocean waters has reached a plateau, it has not increased practically in the last 10 years, and there are no growth trends. At the same time, the demand for fish and seafood is growing in the world. It is possible to increase production due to unique technologies, rare species of fish that have not been mastered by fishing, as well as through the development of aquaculture – marine and freshwater.
In terms of fish production, Russia is in fifth place in the world, in 2021 the volume of catch exceeded 5 million tons, while the country has great resources for development. One of the promising areas is small farms.
In the structure of Russian production, almost 45% is accounted for salmon (salmon, trout). The production of carp takes the second place in Russia. The cultivation of sturgeon is in third place. All these species – trout, salmon, sturgeon – are expensive and inaccessible to most Russians, besides, the price for them has increased significantly last year. Carp are more accessible, but mainly for the southern regions. Fish is a necessary food, so experts should think about what kind of fish to grow in the regions so that every consumer can afford it.
Now the Russian indicators for growing aquaculture in Russia are low, although the country's potential is gigantic and it is possible to grow much more. There are ready-made promising projects, for example, whitefish fishing in the Kurgan, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk regions. Whitefish is a product that is not produced anywhere else in the world, no one else has pasture annual whitefish farming in such volumes.
Fish farms lack cooperation. An example of the success of the cooperation is the experience of Vietnam, where in 2005 they brought caviar of Siberian sturgeon, which they did not know before. Now, thanks to local cooperation, sturgeon has become a popular Vietnamese fish.
Unlike imports, the dynamics of exports is growing rapidly: in 2019 it was 6.1 thousand tons, in 2020 - 19.7, in 2021 - 31.5 thousand tons. Rosselkhoznadzor is the only organization that has the right to certify its products for export and act as a quality guarantor.
Many fish companies do not even think about the development of exports, although this opens up great opportunities for growth and profit. For example, within Russia, prices for wild and aquaculture salmon vary greatly: grown Karelian trout are traded at a discount to wild Murmansk salmon, and even more so to Norwegian and Faroese salmon. And there is no such difference in the world, so Russian aquaculture salmon can be exported at higher prices than sold domestically.
Now a federal target program for export development has been developed, which includes funds for the promotion of Russian fish and seafood abroad, so the state intends to help Russian producers. But for successful development, it is necessary to change the structure of exports, move from the supply of raw materials to processing, at least to the production of fillets, and move on to finished products, to what young people are buying now. In ten years, no one will buy tails for soup and even gutted fish, we need conveniently packaged products ready for use or cooking. It is important to focus on quality, products of own processing, PR promotion and interaction with government agencies.
