MOSCOW, June 7 Russian fishermen may start fishing for krill in the Antarctic region as early as the end of 2023, head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov told reporters.
«There are plans to start fishing for krill at the end of this year,» Shestakov said at a press conference at the international multimedia press center of the Rossiya Segodnya media group.
In July 2021, the head of the Federal Agency for Fishery reported that domestic fishermen could start fishing for krill in the Antarctic region by 2025, and that three companies were interested in fishing. At the end of last year, he confirmed these estimates. At the same time, he said that a project for a special vessel was ready, which was developed by a domestic company planning to engage in this fishery in Antarctica.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Shestakov clarified that the construction of specialized vessels has faced certain sanctions restrictions, and the company, which is interested in fishing for krill within the Russian quota, is now trying to remove these restrictions. But on those vessels that were built before and acquired by it, there are plans to start fishing for krill at the end of the year.
The resumption of the extraction of Antarctic krill, the construction of krill fishing vessels and the production of products from the catches are part of the strategy for the development of the fishery complex of the Russian Federation until 2030. According to the document, the target indicator for the use of Antarctic krill for processing is 450,000 tons. The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) has set the total allowable catch for krill in the region at about 5 million tonnes per year.