Russia's fishery industry rated first in rise of gross domestic product

The rating of the growth rates of Russia's gross domestic products is lead by the nation's fishery industry excelling such traditional leaders as oil and gas sector, reports www.fishnet-russia.com (www.fishnet.ru) with reference to Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

The fishery industry's top position can be attributed mostly to the recent legislative developments encouraging higher catches, improving activities of fish ports and making seafood shipments to the Russian shores more efficient than export, says the report.

The general trend in the Russian fishery sector highlights growing production with the nation's harvest through January-May 2009 growing by more than 100,000 tonnes as compared to the same period of 2008. At the same time, the sector keeps facing a number of problems associated with seafood storage, processing, delivery, advertising and sales, including obsolete coldstores, lack of fish processing companies, high railway tariffs, etc. Besides, retail chains prefer to purchase either very expensive fish products with the margins being very high or very cheap products normally of poor quality.

To tackle the issues, Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency has initiated development of a complex of measures towards greater onshore fish processing. The document has been generally approved by the Government's fishery development commission headed by First Vice-Premier Viktor Zubkov. PM Vladimir Putin has also held a meeting devoted to the same subject and the result of the Government's interest in the sector is the decision to build up favourable conditions for the industry with the state funds to be allotted towards that end.

Along with the government's support, the fishing companies should also hurry up to invest into the nation's onshore processing because wholesalers and large retail chains may soon outstrip them and show interest in construction of fish processing plants when they understand that in the future they will be able to command the seafood prices on the Russian market.