Russia to conduct auctions for aquaculture fish-breeding areas

The Russian Agency for Fisheries has announced it will hold auctions for the right to use eight spots for aquaculture with a total square of 1,000 hectares on 27 December, 2017. Bids are being accepted until 22 December. 

The facilities are located in the regions of Primorsky krai (in Russian far east) and Murmansk oblast (in the country's northwest), the agency announced on its website. In the Murmansk oblast, six spots with a total square of 94.1 ha will be auctioned, and two areas of 925 ha are up for bids the Primorsky krai. The auctions will take place in Moscow. 

According to the agency’s data, there are 4,300 aquaculture fish-breeding zones in Russia, which occupy an area of 536,000 ha. Nearly 3,000 facilities (453,500 hectares) are now in operation. About half of them, 1,400 (covering 116,00 ha), were distributed through 239 auctions after a new federal law on aquaculture came into force in 2014. Rights for using 1,300 facilities are still to be sold. 

Russia has plans to boost its export of aquaculture products and is undertaking significant efforts to establish cooperation with global partners to help its sector develop. 

Thus far, these efforts appear to be yielding positive results. During nine months of 2017, the aquaculture industry increased production to 134,000 metric tons, a 15 percent increase compared with the corresponding period of 2016. Though this volume is only 66 percent of what a state aquaculture program envisages for 2017, the fourth quarter of 2016 is expected to show higher yields, the agency said in a statement.