Kamchatka salmon harvesters encouraged to develop onshore processing facilities

Three largest companies in the region of Kamchatka Okeanrybflot, Imeni Lenina fishing co-op and ZAO Akros could be left without Pacific salmon quotas.

According to the rules of fishing areas allocations, an applicant must have an onshore processing facility located not far from the fishing area. Okeanrybflot and Akros have no such plants and the processing plant of the Imeni Lenina fishing co-op is located far from its inshore fishing areas in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (the capital of the region).

  Earlier the three companies fished and processed fish both on the Eastern and Western coast of Kamchatka. Okeanrybflot and Imeni Lenina had their fishing areas and processed their fish onboard at sea. The vessels are equipped with modern machinery and comply with the latest requirements.

The local Minister of fish industry has reportedly confirmed that the three companies won't get quotas of salmon fishery on the coast. The Imeni Lenina Company, however, has got 2 fishing sites in Avacha Bay and two more sites are on the agenda now. The Okeanrybflot Company understood the situation and put forward no claim for fishing sites. As for Akros Company, they used to have fishing sites but conducted no fishery. Now the companies understood the need to invest in onshore processing and applied for building processing plants in special port zone which is planned to be opened in Petropavlovsk Kamchatsky in near future.