Russian pollock harvesters ready to go head-to-head on EU markets

Russian pollock harvesters won a narrow victory last month when they gained Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification of the Sea of Okhotsk Russian pollock fishery, giving the industry access to a range of clientele who have long been steady customers of competing MSC-certified US Alaska pollock producers.

“[It] will allow Russian pollock to compete on a much stronger basis…especially in the EU market,” Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) spokesman Alexey Buglak told IntraFish.

The PCA member companies, which represent around 70 percent of the total pollock quota share in Russia's Far East, are also now in a position to provide "extra confidence" to buyers looking to Russian pollock with the MSC chain-of-custody regulations, he said.

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