Arctic Science Journeys
Radio Script
1996

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Russian Fisheries
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Terry Johnson is a fisheries advisor with the University of Alaska's Marine Advisory Program. Johnson recently toured Russian fishing and seafood processing operations.

"They're modernizing. It's all a question of capitol. Things happen there absolutely as quickly as capitol can be found to do it with."

In one case, Johnson recalled how two Russian scientists made a deal with a manager of a newly-privatized steel mill to use cash from the sale of surplus steel to refurbish fishing vessels. In exchange, the scientists-turned- fishermen promised to give a portion of their catch to feed the employees of the steel mill.

"They didn't know a thing about fishing, but they had friends around the country and they were smart guys who knew how to put deals together. They just basically gave him a promise that in a couple of years they would send him so many thousands of cases of canned salmon. At the time they made the deal, they didn't even have a salmon cannery."

As a country, Russia produces only about 275 million pounds of salmon each year--less than half that of Alaska. Most of the catch is low-grade pink salmon that is canned and sold domestically. But other higher-priced seafood, like pollock, halibut and crab, are poised to play an important role on the world marketplace. Gunnar Knapp is a resource economist at the University of Alaska Anchorage.

KNAPP 11:25:00 "There are evidently very substantial volumes of crab, and ground fish entering world markets, and that's very much a factor. I suspect it's important on the halibut side too."

Foreign investors--largely from Japan, Vietnam, Korea, Taiwan, and to a lesser extent the U.S.-- are providing the capitol to fuel the changes occurring in the industry. Many of those investors are banking on selling their seafood on the world market. But Knapp says Russia's reputation for poor quality may haunt them for some time to come.

"There are some Japanese investments and they are producing good quality fish, and there are some American investments that are also producing good quality. My perception, based on my experience in Russia, is that the stuff that's high quality is a small fraction of the total. Overall, they are going to have enormous quality problems for a long time."

Still, no one is counting Russia out. Their waters contain a large fisheries resource and their close-proximity to lucrative Asian markets could one day make them a dominant player in North Pacific fisheries.

For Arctic Science Journeys, this is Debra Damron.