Russia’s mussels and oysters production jumped 17-fold

Since 2014 Russian production of mussels and oysters has risen more than 17-fold to 1700 metric tons.

Bivalve mollusks are the main objects of aquaculture in the Black Sea, however in the recent years mussels culture has been showing lower interest despite mussels are easy to cultivate and they are resistant to viruses and bacteria. The main detergent for the production growth is zero market for large volumes in spring and autumn when the meat content is peaking.

In the meantime, oyster production in Russia through the recent years has increased dramatically, due to stronger demand on the domestic market and the status of a delicacy product of the premium segment.

The Center for Marine Food Resources based in Sevastopol has been developing a mussel project since 2017. The company leases 144 hectares of offshore water area, the production capacity can exceed 1 thousand tons of mussels per year. The collectors were installed as late as in August 2018 due to the lack of floating cranes with a lifting capacity of over 150 tons in Sevastopol. The first harvest of mussels is expected next year. So far the company has not got a land site to arrange the processing facilities, therefore it is not yet clear where the harvest will go for processing. Construction of the farm has cost the company ca.3 million rubles.

Projects of mussel culture are longterm with the period of cultivation taking about three years. Payback depends on the amount of products grown. The more marketable products you get, the lower the cost will be, respectively, the lower the price for the end user is. The Centre expects to return investments in the period from four to six years.