Catch of RFC Group hitting 323 000 metric tons in 2020

In 2020 the Russian Fishery Company (RFC) caught 323 thousand tons of fish exceeding the previous year result by 3.15 thousand tons. The output of value-added products also grew but at a faster rate, reports Megafishnet.com.

Compared to 2019 RFC provided the largest absolute increase in pollock catch (14 thousand tons up) among other fishing companies fully exhausting the quota of 283.8 thousand tons, according to RFC.

The overall production output was on a par with the previous year, while pollock fillets and mince increased by 25%, pollock roe - by 19% as compared to 2019.

“Increasing the share of products with high added value is one of the strategic goals of the Russian Fishery Company,” commented Viktor Litvinenko, RFC General Director.

We have begun to decommission outdated vessels to replace them with modern facilities, which will make harvesting and fish processing more efficient with growing catch volumes. At the end of last year, we received the first supertrawler of the new fleet – “Vladimir Limanov”. The vessel's capacities for the production of deep processed products will allow RFC to increase their output and start producing surimi. "

The new trawler "Vladimir Limanov" will be able to produce about 15 thousand tons of fillets, mince and surimi annually. During the first year of the vessel's operation, it is planned to produce 4-5 thousand tons of the new product.

Last year, the first two Russian-built supertrawlers for the RFC were launched at the Admiralty shipyards. The vessels will be delivered to the company in 2021.

The "Russian Pollock" fish processing plant with a capacity of up to 155 tons of products per day was also put into operation.

In 2020, RFC developed such new markets as: Singapore (Pollock fillets), Poland (HG Pollock), Spain, Tunisia and Kazakhstan (Herring), Thailand (Pilchard) and for the first time supplied pollock roe to the domestic market.

RFC continues to use the group MSC certificate, the holder of which is the Pollock Catchers Association. In order to minimize risks in the market for MSC-certified products, RFC has begun a new certification procedure for this standard.

In 2021 the company plans to expand its presence on the domestic market, produce new types of products and develop new markets, including the surimi market.

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