Russian fishermen implementing new strategy for production and export of Alaska pollock roe

The Fisheries Regulations issued in 2007 have been amended with a number of by-law acts which may have a great impact on the Alaska pollock fishery and its economical efficiency in the Russian Far East, fishery sources from Vladivostok told www.fishnet-russia.com (https://www.fishnet.ru/).

More specifically, those amendments include limitation of the APO roe yield and the fishery's division by zones/subareas and fishing seasons. The largest daily yield of APO roe in the West Kamchatka, Kamchatka-Kurile and North Okhotsk subareas should not exceed 2.7% in January, 4% in February, 5% in March and 7% in April, according to the order No.521 dated 14 September 2007 of Russia's Ministry of Agriculture. The thing is that the market has been saturated with the Alaska pollock roe for the recent two years and on the Asian market prices for the product have considerably decreased.

Russian export of APO roe products

Source: Primorye (capital Vladivostok) Department of Russia's Federal Customs Service

Last year, following the appeal of Alaska Pollock Fishermen's Association, most of the fishing companies voluntarily concluded an agreement to limit frozen roe production and decrease its supplies thus making it possible to pursue antidumping price policy on the Asian markets and to stabilize the market of APO roe in general.

In a situation of strengthening demand for protein products Alaska pollock which is harvested in the ecologically clean waters of the Sea of Okhotsk will remain one of the most popular species with frozen meat and fillets being even more popular than APO roe. That is why the Russian fishermen are now thinking about focusing on production of APO fillets and other frozen products rather than APO roe.