Where Have All The Russian Fish Gone?

Article by Konstantin Zgurovsky,
Coordinator of WWF Russia Marine Programme

Far East is the core fishing area in Russia. Over 60% of the total national harvest comes from there. However the national customers seldom see the Far Eastern fish. What wish are we eating then? Why do foreign suppliers prevail over the Russian ones? Why does it happen that the Russian fishing industry is in decline? And how does this influence overall environment of the sea and the fish stocks in particular? Konstantin Zgurovsky, coordinator of the WWF Russia Marine Programme makes an attempt to answer these questions.

Main part of the fish harvest from the Russian Far East goes directly abroad right from the fishing areas. Only the catch that cannot be sold abroad is transported then to the Russian ports. This is far more simple and far more profitable, as it helps to avoid taxes and all the bureaucratic hustle with paperwork at the entrance to the port, to accumulate some of the profits “outside the borders” for some other worse time etc.

But there is also another reason, as these processes are also related to poor development and rather wild nature of the Russian market, and unattractiveness of the fish that is supplied for in-country consumption sometimes because it just does not look good, but often also because its’ quality is low. This leads to the fact that this national consumers’ demand is actively used by foreign suppliers who bring to Russia all kind of Tuna, Mackerel, or Dolphinfish (Coryphaena spp., that is sold in our restaurants under the names of “Dorado” or “Darada”), Norwegian salmons (Salmon or Trout), and also foreign Herring, Danish or Dutch Mussels, Shrimps etc.

Surprisingly these fish products can be found not only in European Russia and in Siberia, but also in Primorye and Khabarovsk region, and even at the Kamchatka and Sakhalin! They look much more appetizing and attractive, it is packed better than our Pink Salmon, while the latter is often overfrozen, bound as a result of freezing processes, defrosted or even oxidized, and cannot compete with foreign fish products not only in how it looks, but often in how it tastes.

What the problem with Pink Salmon, so called peoples’ fish! Even such delicacies as Sockeye Salmon, Chinook Salmon and Coho Salmon which largely go to the markets of Japan but sometimes still appear in our Russian shops are sold in Russia at the twice lower price than imported Salmon and Trout! Only a few customers, and often even a few retailers know that Salmons and Trouts are in fact artificially grown at the fish farms and are imported from Norway. And that at the foreign markets “wild” fish is significantly more expensive than the artificially grown.

Does one know what is “artificially grown”? There are two types of technologies. One, so called “grazing” is when the salmons are grown at the fish farms and then released into the rivers, where from the fish later migrates for foraging into the ocean. After several years adult fish returns to their “native” rivers, where they are usually harvested then is estuaries and the lower reaches. Another technology involves growing of fish in cages in the sea just to the “marketable” adult sizes. Such methods are used to grow European Salmonids, Atlantic Salmon and Trout, but also for Chinook Salmon in Chili (it does not occur on the Russian markets), Tuna and even Swordfish!

Enter whatever restaurant in Vladivostok – what fish and seafood will they offer? Right, that very Salmon, Tuna, “Dorado”, and at best probably Atlantic or Greenland Halibut. In the middle of Salmonid harvesting season I went to a posh café in the center of Vladivostok and spotted in the menu still the same Norwegian Salmon and Dutch (!) Mussels. They did not have Russian fish at all! Later when we were receiving some colleagues from abroad we decided to offer them a dinner in one of the most popular restaurants of our city. Certainly being in Russia they wished to taste all the Russian food, including fish. But again we were offered only Tuna, Salmon and Trout, but also Lobsters and some tropical shrimps. It was several times that I attempted to question our waiters and administrators in the restaurants and cafés why they don’t have out Far Eastern fish? And got only puzzled looks in reply, so to say, what does he want?? Salmon is so good and tasty and oily, and the mussels are so clean …

Even in the rich quarters or in the restaurants in our capital people eating shrimps from Thailand, and lobsters from Mediterranean do not have any idea for example that even Cod they sometimes get by planes from Sweden is just the Baltic Cod. It first of all means that they are eating fish which is already over-harvested and under threat, and secondly, taking into account how polluted the Baltic Sea is now, they are eating fish which is just harmful! While in Europe itself, where from such fish it is imported after being nicely packed, people try to avoid eating it. And the Russians think that if Saab’s, Volvo’s and Electrolux fridges are the wisest European inventions, then also the Cod from abroad must be the same superb!

And when it concerns cage-raised salmon at our markets, the story is sad in its own. It is not only twice more expensive than the wild salmon, but it also can pose threat to our health. We can refuse to trust our sanitary inspection authorities and just believe that restrictions introduced for suppliers of Norwegian Salmon are caused more by political reasons (kind of revenge for the arrests of Russian ships poaching in Norwegian waters). However scientific information that proves that such salmon is indeed harmful exists.

When salmons are raised artificially in cages all kinds on non-natural food is used, and its is often added with such substances as growth stimulators, medicines (including antibiotics), and even artificial pigments which make the flesh of this fish so nicely and attractive pinkish. All this makes consumption of artificially raised fish rather dangerous, especially if one eats it regularly enough. Harmful substances tend to accumulate, and regular consumption of such fish can lead to a number of diseases, for example lead to deterioration of human eyesight.

At the same time Russian (not only Far Eastern) fishermen and producers of fish and seafood delicacies give little attention to advertisement of their own natural fish products, hardly do any proper surveys of markets and consumers demands, and put almost zero effort in improvement of both the appearance and the assortment of their production.

And our technologists, particularly those from TINRO center (Pacific Fisheries and Oceanology Institute), have a lot of progressive inventions which are often piled in paper reports on the shelves. This is partly related to and in a way excused by the complicated situation that happened to remain in our fish industry in the latest years, and also by the fact that nobody neither stimulates long-term planning nor investments into fish processing. Additionally though it is our own lack of information, laziness, and ineffective management that make it easy for foreign companies to come to our national markets. At the same time our fish products are being pushed away from the markets abroad, where our fish industry people cannot come to a joint position as concerns prices, and our poachers who bring illegally caught fish are selling it at damping prices.

The situation can become even worse now, after Russia joins the WTO. It is getting harder and harder for our suppliers to meet product certification criteria that are applied at the civilized markets. And we talk here not only of the quality and origin certificates (HAASP, ISO 9000 or ISO 12000), but also of the environmental certification according to the standards of Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Many of our fish consumers have not yet even heard of the latter.

What can be done in such situation?

First of all, in order to support Russian fishermen and suppliers and to take care of your own health please ask for the Russian fish while shopping (certainly if it is of good quality). Buy the fish that is harvested in our national waters, not the other ones of unknown catching date and non-Russian origin. Now in our shops one can find even the Chinese salmon and Pollock, which is is fact just impossible! There is no such fish in China at all (except probably the Amur Salmon which is highly polluted with phenol)! It only means that it is the same Russian fish, exported and then re-imported from China.

In the West there is a good combination of words, Chain of Custody, which means the entire product development chain from initial producer (in this case fishermen) to the final consumer. And we do not know at all what are the Mackerel and Tuna fish that is sold in our restaurants, and where they come from. It is the also true for Dorado (or Dolphinfish, if it is indeed what they sell) – as it is a tropical fish which can be found in the Sea of Japan only occasionally. I can even suppose that also the Tuna fish which is sold in Russia comes from fish farms and is for whatever reasons rejected from the Japanese market.

Besides, the fishermen, processing companies and the retailers of fish and sea products shall start giving attention to coordinated pricing and quality control policies both at the national and foreign markets, to protection of markets from illegally harvested fish, to market expansion, to introduction of new products and technologies, and to propotion of the national Russian fish products.

Where, for example, can you order a traditional Russian fish pie?

Who teaches specialized fish chefs or specialized fish vendors?

Why is it no shame to consume illegally harvested fish, which is in fact stolen from kids of our kids (like the black caviar at Olympic Games in Italy)? Why is it possible that the Red Data Book species – Sakhalin Taimen’, Kaluga and Chinese Perch, - are caught and then sold at the markets, for example in Khabarovsk? And how to protect our marine biological resources from poaching, not just by individuals, but from large-scale “industrial” poaching which already led to drastic decline in Kamchatka Crab population?

Accepting the reality that one cannot really solve these problems only through enforcement we think that also fishermen themselves and those who are processing the fish shall play a vital role being interested in sustainability of their businesses. It is worth to remember also that large companies like Unilever, Wal-Mart supermarket chains, McDonalds with their fishburgers and fishfingers, as well as the other larger buyers of fish and seafood take enormous care and attention to trace the origin and quality of all wish they buy.

Fishermen themselves often suggest interesting initiatives like “All Fish To The Coast”, calling for all the harvest in the national waters to be brought to the Russian fish ports, which are currently busy with whatever different cargo other than fish! It is worth to mention also the initiative coming from “Pollock Fishermen Association” who set up a standard of maximum 4.5% caviar outputs from the total weight of harvested Pollock. This can significantly help decrease illegal taking of this main fished species at the Far East. Some companies also develop their own brands, which have already become recognizable.

You might ask why WWF, the largest nature conservation organization in the world, is dealing with such issues?

The fact is that transparency in questions of fish products origin is among the most effective market mechanisms for conservation of fish resources and for sustainability of marine ecosystems. Therefore WWF and the largest buyer and retailer of frozen fish and seafood – Unilever company – have established MSC, the Marine Stewardship Council, which deals with ecological certification of fishing industry. WWF is involved worldwide in development, publication and dissemination of various consumers guides.

We’ve published and plan to produce more Brochures on Ecological Certification. Currently in partnership with Wild Salmon Center and US Pacific Environment, we prepare also the brochure on captive-bred Salmon; it can be obtained by any willing person or organization, including also our business partners. For example, in Sweden the markets are so sensitive that after similar brochure was published by WWF Sweden the sales decreased twice for some products. Our market it not that much sensitive, but still we have to be prepared and do our best. And if we also want to bring our own fish to consumers avoiding all the intermediate players, if we want to make civilized business which is good both for the buyers and producers, we have to think of what happens now, what are the current losses – both for the state, and for every individual Russian consumer.