Russia fears introduction of export duties on fish - Fish Union

MOSCOW. Dec 18 (Interfax) - The introduction of export duties on fish in Russia will not significantly affect the level of its shipments abroad but may impact the economy of the fishing industry, the chairman of the Fish Union Alexander Panin said.

"Regarding exports, a lot here will depend on the decision on export duties. The issue is currently being discussed by the government, and fishermen are actively resisting," Panin said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Much will also depend on which products they are introduced for, in what amount, and other factors, he said. Around 40% of the Russian catch is pollock, another 11% is Pacific herring and 10% is cod species, he said. "Considering that about 80% of the total catch consists of just ten types of aquatic biological resources, it is obvious that export duties are unlikely to significantly affect the level of exports in terms of weight. Most likely, this will affect the economic sustainability of the fishing sector," he said.

Fishermen will be forced to export the main amounts one way or another, he said. "We simply cannot process [the entire catch] on the domestic market without driving prices below the profitability level. We would simply kill the industry that way. I hope no one will allow this," he said.

The issue of introducing export duties on fish has been discussed for a long time. Following a meeting with members of the government on October 29, President Vladimir Putin gave instructions to work out the advisability of introducing export duties on the main types of biological resources. As reported, the goal of this measure is to stimulate the production of domestic fish products with a high degree of processing.

According to the Fish Union's data based on customs statistics from countries importing Russian fish, Russia exported 1.5 million tonnes of fish worth $4.3 billion in 9M, compared to 1.4 million tonnes worth $3.9 billion a year earlier. The main sales markets in physical terms are China with a share of over 50%, Korea with 14%, the EU with 10.5% and Japan with 6%.