Russia (bbabo.net), - For the fishing industry, one of the main engines of the Far Eastern economy, 2021 was not an easy year. Several factors played their role at once, including the continued implementation of the investment quota system and the change in the structure of exports caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The financial results of 2021 will soon be summed up by Rosstat and the tax service, but we can already talk about general trends and tasks for the new year.

Financial kaleidoscope

The head of the All-Russian Association of Fisheries Enterprises, Entrepreneurs and Exporters (VARPE) German Zverev characterizes 2021 with the expression "growing uneven financial condition of different segments of the industry."

- It is no longer possible to use a single indicator "industry profitability" or "industry profit". Because the industry, consisting of salmon, pollock, crab, cod segments, if we talk about the sea, as well as from aquaculture, processing, lives with different financial activity, he explains, citing the following data: the total revenue of the fishery complex for 9 months of 2021 decreased by 22 percent - from 547 to 428 billion rubles. The most significant decline occurred in the field of marine fisheries. At the same time, profitability for three quarters grew by almost 50 percent, and its most serious growth in 2020 occurred in the III-IV quarters (it is expected that it will be the same in 2021), that is, at the time when salmon and crab seasons are going on .

These areas have high profitability and profitability, the indicators are much lower in the pollock segment and the segment of the Pacific pelagic (Ivasi sardine, mackerel).

- Financial kaleidoscopicity, from my point of view, will increase, and it is important to take this circumstance into account when considering the conditions of the second stage of investment quotas. It is necessary to build approaches in relation to the financial performance of each entity, otherwise there is a risk of making wrong management decisions, - the head of the VARPE believes.

When to start the second stage

The second stage of the introduction of investment quotas is currently the most sensitive topic for the fishing community. Fishermen, without disputing it, offer to carefully approach the details, especially since during the first one there were difficulties, in particular, delays in the construction of ships.

- We believe that the second stage of investment quotas should be launched after the construction of all vessels, that is, in fact, after the end of the first stage, - says Georgy Martynov, President of the Association of Fisheries Enterprises (ARPP) of Primorye.

The fishermen, without challenging the mechanism of investment quotas, propose to carefully approach the details, especially since difficulties arose during the first stage of its implementation

Before the start of the second stage, the fishermen should have on hand the numbers proving the effectiveness of the first stage, and calculations confirming the effectiveness of the second. In addition, a long-term scientific forecast of the state of aquatic biological resources in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the Russian Federation and on the continental shelf is needed so that fishermen do not find themselves in a situation where quotas are not provided with a resource.

There are other questions about the new bill. Thus, it provides for the withdrawal of the remaining 50 percent of crab from the TAC and putting them up for auction. According to Georgiy Martynov, holding new auctions will place the majority of current quota users in discriminatory conditions. If lots are formed, as was done in 2019-2020, from 1,000 tons, then most fishermen will not be able to purchase or master such volumes. The total cost of individual lots exceeded 6.5 billion rubles, in addition, the winner was obliged to build a vessel worth at least 1.5 billion.

According to the ARPP, out of 62 crab harvesting enterprises in 2021, 41 users had quotas in the total volume of less than 500 tons, 22 - less than 100 tons, and only 12 - more than 1000 tons. Most of them do not have the necessary creditworthiness to take out loans to buy a new batch of quotas.

- It should be noted that a number of companies participating in the implementation of investment projects have quotas for crabs - the main means of generating income and repaying borrowed funds. Resetting quotas poses a real threat to such a business, Martynov says, noting that it is generally necessary to start the second stage of investment quotas for crab from 2034, when the agreements concluded with users on assigning "industrial quotas" for this object to them will end. Meanwhile, according to the current version of the bill, it is planned to launch the second stage of investment quotas for the construction of the fleet and new auctions as early as 2023.

What science will say

Fishermen also have concerns about what and where they will fish. This information is provided by science. And in 2022, emphasizes German Zverev, the priority of the Far East is determined in the program of scientific research, and the work will go not only in the EEZ of the Russian Federation, but also beyond its borders. The concern is that the funds for fishery science will be transferred from the jurisdiction of the Federal Agency for Fisheries to the Ministry of Education and Science and it will be financed under the new state program "Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation."

Not only representatives of fishing associations are worried about this, but also the Federal Agency for Fishery. In December, the head of the department, Ilya Shestakov, at the Far Eastern Scientific and Trade Council noted that in this case, every year it will be more and more difficult to maintain the level of research achieved recently.

“In 2022, we still have research planned, but I’m afraid the irreparable will happen in 2023 – people who don’t understand anything about fishery resources will decide, and we will prove what and why we need it,” he said.

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