Fish and seafood capture quota shares in Russia to be allocated for as long as 20 years

More specifically, according to the Agency, as of 2018 when the first 10-year period of quota shares allocation will come to an end the capture quota shares should be allocated for the period of 20 years. The measure is supposed to encourage quota holders to build new vessels and renew out of date and worn-out fleet which is actually one of the most urgent problems of the Russian seafood industry.

According to the Agency's PR Head Alexander Saveliev, at present the Russian fishing fleet consists of 2,419 vessels the majority of whom were built in 1970-1980s and are severely worn-out. The payback period of a vessel amounts to 12-15 years and the period of quota shares allocation should be increased accordingly.

The Federal Fisheries Agency also suggests ratification of the concept of fishing fleet building, cancellation of customs tariffs for vessel equipment produced outside to the Customs Union (Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan) and subsidizing of interest rates for shipbuilding projects.

However, before implementing the above measures, the Agency says that those vessels, who have already been built or refurbished abroad but cannot return to Russia because of high customs tariffs and therefore have to operate outside the Russian EEZ, should return to their home ports in Russia. There are more than 70 of such vessels now. In order to encourage their return to the Russian waters the Agency suggests elimination of custom payments for vessels built of refurbished abroad before 2011.

If the Russian Government approves the above measures, the annual contribution to the Russian economy will amount to RUR 4.3 billion while the fish landings in Russian ports will increase by 30,000-35,000 tonnes per year.