Canadian seafood representative Bruce Chapman discussed the issue of the six Canadian shrimp freezer trawlers that remain shut off from Russia during a meeting with the assistant head of Russia’s veterinary agency, Alexey Alekseenko.
The meeting was initiated by Canada and also discussed potential cooperation in catching of snow crab in the Barents Sea, said the veterinary agency Rosselkhoznadzor.
Chapman is both chairman of the industry association Fisheries Council of Canada (FCC) and executive director of the Canadian Association for Prawn Producers (CAPP).
During the meeting, Chapman informed Rosselkhoznadzor of his meeting with Ilya Shestakov, the head of Russia’s federal fisheries agency Rosrybolovstvo, during which they discussed possible ways to expand cooperation between the two countries’ fisheries sector, said Rosselkhoznadzor.
Russia accounts for just $120 million of Canada’s $4 billion annual seafood exports.
However, it is the country’s largest or one of its largest shrimp market, taking in around $80m worth of shrimp a year from Canada’s offshore sector.
This has proved an issue since late last year, as more than half the 11-strong Canadian fleet has found itself shut off from the Russian market following inspections by Rosselkhoznadzor bringing down prices of shell-on shrimp as a result.
During the meeting, Chapman asked Rosselkhoznadzor to speed up the consideration of documents sent by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in relation to the banned trawlers.
Chapman said the FCC is ready to provide additional safety guarantees for Canadian fish products exported to the Russian market, said the Russian agency. Even now the Council is ready to send to the Rosselkhoznadzor the data about the fish product laboratory testing for the compliance with the Russian and [Customs Union] requirements every month.
The FCC also asked Rosselkhoznadzor to inspect Canadian fish processing establishments interested in export of their products to Russia and other Customs Union countries as soon as possible, said Rosselkhoznadzor.
Snow crab cooperation
The export figures quoted above exclude any volumes sold via re-exports. Both Chapman and Alekseenko agreed that direct deliveries would be more beneficial for both countries. The introduction of modern efficient traceability systems for raw products and goods would prevent illegal re-export, said Rosselkhoznadzor.
Among areas of possible cooperation, Chapman indicated possible joint projects for catching and processing snow crabs spawned in the Barents sea.
Currently the export of this crab species to the international market is ensured by Canada up to 50% and the country can propose modern technologies for its catching and processing as well as the promotion in the global market, said the Russian agency.
Chapman also suggested the possibility of exchanging fish quotas, and said Canadian companies could be interested in purchasing trawlers from Russia.