The agency governing Russian aquaculture has allowed the industry to increase farmed salmon production to 250,000 tonnes, or more than twice the 116,200 tonnes produced in 2020.
The target production volume, reported by Russian news outlet Sfera.fm, is far less ambitious than the 700,000 tonnes per year suggested in a private-sector proposal titled, “The Strategy for the Development of the Fishing Industry Complex of the Russian Federation by 2030.”
The move to boost local production comes as farmed salmon imports stopped coming into Russia as a result of Western sanctions since February this year. This has left a void of over 72,000 MT of salmon, which local salmon farmers do not have the capacity to fill.
See also: RAS in the running as Russia seeks to fill shortfall of 72,000 MT of salmon
But a lot rests on the development of local feed sources as the Western sanctions have also led to a shortage of fish feed suitable for salmon aquaculture.
See also: Russia needs feed as Western sanctions tighten supply. Here’s how it plans to solve it
Russian bank Rosselkhozbank said about 60 billion rubles ($1 billion) can be invested in the development of domestic aquaculture. The bank forecasts that the average consumption of fish in Russia, could reach 24 kg per person per year, reported the news outlet, which did not state a timeline.
