Producers of Russian sushi quality shrimp associate to increase selling power

Companies based in the Russian Far East and trained by Japanese technicians have mastered production of frozen pink shrimp Pandalus borealis of high quality for direct consumption in raw form.

Now with this elite product on offer, the Russian exporters are trying to overcome disunity by establishing an association under the respective name of Dalkrevetka (meaning Far Eastern shrimp). One of the goals of the association is consolidating positions on the export markets. The association also studies possibilities on the domestic market.

Pink shrimp

This wild shrimp has a distinctive sweetish taste and it is absolutely ecological clean because it is harvested in cold waters, according to the producers. However, unlike other pink shrimp fishing areas in the world, in the waters of the Russian Far East Basin it is larger. Therefore, in Japan pink shrimp (only from the Russian Far East) is eaten in raw form, and the raw consumption determines the methods and time of processing, terms and conditions of storage.

On the Japanese market traders market the following types of pink shrimp Pandalus borealis:

These are traditional symbols for the Japanese market, but in different companies they can vary depending on the product type, etc. To define the product traders also use the following symbols:

• B - for coonstripe shrimp Pandalus hipsinotus;
• F - containing roes;X, XV - tails (headless);
• N - for pink shrimp Pandalus borealis;
• SL - with stripes.

In the Russian Far East the fishermen harvest ca.10,000 metric tons of pink shrimp per year and nearly all the stock is exported abroad, though large cities of the country also have a market potential. One of the largest companies harvesting pink shrimp is OOO Kompania BINOM running two dedicated processing shrimpers of the middle class. The trawlers are equipped with dedicated shrimp trawl systems and automated lines for catch processing.

For the Japanese market BINOM processes its catches into raw-frozen produce with the total output amounting to ca.1000 metric tons per year, which accounts for ca.11% of all the Russian export of pink shrimp from the Pacific waters.

Fishery

Hydrology (ice conditions, currents, temperature) defines periods of shrimp moulting and correspondingly approved fishery seasons.

Main fishing areas are as follows: Sea of Japan (Tatar Strait), fishing areas of West Sakhalin and Primorye.

From 1 April until 1 June the fishery is prohibited under the current regulations. The current quota 2006 in the area amounts to a little more than 3000 metric tons.

Trawl fishery in the areas is conducted from October to March when the waters are colder and the fishermen succeed to process shrimp onboard without a loss of product quality.

In those areas the fleets also use a trap fishing method (in much smaller volumes) with manual processing of catches and product stacking.

Sea of Okhotsk

The Sea of Okhotsk, fishing areas of East Sakhalin, North Okhotsk and Kamchatka-Kurile areas. There the fishing periods (especially in East Sakhalin and in the North Okhotsk area) depend on ice conditions and the moulting periods there are a little later. The current year quota in the area amounts to 4700 metric tons.

The quotas of the Sea of Japan are covered to a larger extent thanks to larger daily catch rates and larger size of harvested shrimp.

Domestic market

In the meantime, growing domestic market of pink shrimp is dominated by foreign produce because in the Russian North Fisheries Basin (capital Murmansk) shrimp fishery is very small.

Further information from Binom Company

Tel. +7 (4242) 466-975

Fax +7 (4242) 466-971