Fishery Export Opportunities: China and Beyond

Sanctions have significantly changed the geography of fish exports, shifting the focus from the closed American and significantly limited European markets to new destinations, noted Stanislav Aksyonov, President of the Fishery Shipowners Association (FSA), at the strategic session "Russian Agroexport 2025-2026," organized by the Federal Agroexport Center with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture.

The FSA head emphasized that despite the restrictions, fish product supplies to Europe continue. However, the core of the export market is China. At the same time, in addition to developing this market, along with other traditional markets such as Korea and Japan, exporters are increasingly focusing on new destinations. For example, Saudi Arabia is actively increasing purchases (certainly given the low base of this market).

However, suppliers also face obstacles when working with friendly markets, noted Stanislav Aksyonov. For example, import duties from China. There are also administrative barriers within Russia itself, such as restrictions on live crab.

"There are many seemingly minor restrictions. But the combined barriers imposed by both importers of Russian products and Russian government agencies create a significant number of problems that we must overcome," said Stanislav Aksyonov, expressing hope that these barriers can be overcome together with the Ministry of Agriculture.

 As a reminder, the FSA is proposing the following solutions:

• Developing intergovernmental cooperation on the possibility of reducing or temporarily reducing import duties to China, as well as expediting the procedures for obtaining permits for new products to enter that market;

• Development of an increase in the import quota for pollock products from Russia to Japan;

• Transition of live crustacean exporters from a one-time to a general license or automation of the process, reducing the issuance time to one day.