Development of aquaculture is a global trend that has gained momentum during the pandemic. Aquaculture products account for quite a low share of the aquatic bioresources caught in Russia today, although the country has enormous opportunities and prospects for becoming a world leader in fish farming. At the roundtable, representatives of professional associations, Russian and foreign businesses discussed the basic principles of organising and operating an efficient aquaculture enterprise.

Roman Vityazev, Chairman of the Far Eastern Union of Mariculture Enterprises, elaborated on why Far Eastern enterprises, with their huge wild fish resource base, are interested in developing aquaculture: the stages in development of the industry, the most frequent problems and ways to resolve them.

The next speaker was Alexander Novikov, President of the Union of Sturgeon Breeders. He outlined a number of factors hindering the development of sturgeon farming. First, there are the counterfeit products on the market. Second, many potential entrepreneurs are put off by the long period between cultivation being started and the first results achieved. Indeed, the lengthy maturity period required for sturgeon species means that sturgeon farm owners do not get their first caviar for at least eight years following cultivation launch. Even so, interest in the sector is quite high. The growth in sturgeon farming is being driven by small, family-run sturgeon farms.

Viktor Zaraysky, Senior Vice-Chairman of the Board of Rosrybkhoz State-Owned Cooperative Association, focused on the basic pillars of the aquaculture development programme, including preferential loans for planting material and veterinary medicines, and insurance for cultivating valuable fish species. He also talked about current regulatory and taxation changes designed to optimise aquaculture development in Russia and remove relevant obstacles and contradictions.

Alexander Zhigalko shared his experience of organizing and operating the Adler Trout Breeding Farm. Among other things, he stressed the importance of selecting the right breed of fish to achieve the highest efficiency, which depends on a number of factors, including, primarily, the natural conditions and temperature regime of the aquaculture enterprise.

Leonid Goldstein, Co-founder and CIS Director of AquaMaof, an Israeli aquaculture equipment manufacturer, described his company’s aquaculture equipment innovations and explained what to look out for when planning to set up an enterprise and choose the relevant parameters. At the same time, he pointed out the company’s role in servicing recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) in providing technical maintenance for the equipment supplied and training staff to operate it. So, the quite high cost of the equipment is compensated for by its smooth and efficient operation and optimization of costs for maintenance, electricity consumption and insurance services by reducing insurers’ risks.

Alexey Dorin, CEO of Aquaproduct and an AquaMaof client, gave a brief overview of current projects and concepts for Atlantic salmon farming. Dmitry Perman, Partner at the Russian Friends Capital Investment Fund, also focused on the role of the RAS sector in farming Atlantic salmon, sharing his experience of investing in this area.

Alexey Myshkin, Director of the Freshwater Fisheries Branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), provided information about scientific support for fish farming and the key science efforts to boost fish survival rates at aquaculture farms, while also describing breeding achievements useful for fish farmers. He said a wide range of carp and sturgeon species hybrids bred by Russian scientists might boost fish far productivity significantly. He also presented combined aquaculture cultivation technologies.

In turn, Roman Artyomov, Head of VNIRO’s Department of Feed and Feed Components, talked about feed used in aquaculture, experience of and prospects for Russian feed for fish breeding.

Among other things, the roundtable participants outlined the main advantages of fish farming such as production localization close to the market and optimisation of logistics costs, stable product quality due to a controlled environment, a stable growing cycle and absence of seasonality, all these leading to attractive pricing.

During the roundtable, Deputy Head Vasily Sokolov awarded Viktor Zaraysky a first-degree medal for services in the development of Russia's fisheries. He also thanked the participants, noting that the exhibitors at Seafood Expo Russia 2021 were keenly interested in the aquaculture sector.

The roundtable was moderated by Yury Kitashin, First Deputy General Director of Russian Sea – Aquaculture.