Global Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo Russia 2021

Quality and safety: the secrets of delivering fish to the consumer

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Tuesday, September 14, 2021, 16:00 (GMT + 9)

During the IV International Fishery Forum and the Exhibition of the Fish Industry in St. Petersburg on September 9, a round table "How to bring quality fish to the end consumer" was held.

It is known that it is not enough to catch fish - it is necessary to deliver it to the end consumer without losing its useful properties. In Russia, the situation is complicated by the fact that there are often thousands of kilometers and long hours of transportation between the consumer's plate and the side of the vessel. And today the issues of logistics and storage optimization pose a new challenge for the industry.

Lots of fish and the Northern Sea Route

Andrey Mikhalevich, Head of the Economy and Investments Department of the Federal Agency for Fishery, noted that about 3.5 million tons of fish were harvested in 8 months of this year - that is, the level of last year has been reached. Taking into account the decrease in export volumes, the supply in the domestic market has increased, therefore the volume of goods transported from the Far East and North into the interior of the country is also growing. “Meanwhile, you need to understand that in addition to land routes, there is also an alternative - the Northern Sea Route (NSR), the activities of which are provided by the state corporation Rosatom,” said Andrey Gennadievich.

The project manager of the Project Office for the Development of the Arctic Sergey Chemko explained that the NSR is a transport corridor passing through the water area of ​​the Russian Arctic seas, its length is 3,030 nautical miles, and a favorable navigation period is usually 4 months. Although in recent years it has been noticed that the ice area is decreasing and navigation has "shifted". So, in 2019, the earliest trip was carried out in early May, and in 2020 - the latest, in January-February. This became possible also thanks to the emergence of new modern ships.

FSUE Atomflot also transports fish along the NSR. In 2019, the nuclear-powered lighter carrier Sevmorput delivered 204 refrigerated containers along the Vostochny-Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky-St. Petersburg route, in 2020 - another 206 containers with fish from Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky to St. Petersburg.

Photo: FSUE Atomflot transports fish along the NSR

According to Sergei Chemko, in order to use the NSR to the full, infrastructure improvements are required - a lot, according to the plan, should be completed by 2024. And in 2030, year-round navigation may already be open. In this regard, the modernization and preparation of seaports along the NSR route for servicing refrigerated cargo is required.

The specialist also noted that it is necessary to introduce state subsidies for transportation, to attract a logistics operator to organize door-to-door transportation and supply the necessary container equipment.

The general director of the Seroglazka terminal Vladimir Walter joined the discussion. He shared his experience: it was their facility that served the lighter carrier during pilot voyages: “This large vessel requires special infrastructure,” he said.

Seroglazka Terminal company (part of the NOREBO fishing holding)

In Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, in December next year, the reconstruction of the terminal is being completed: 600 outlets for containers will appear, "one-window design" will work. In Murmansk, work is still to be done on the terminal infrastructure, added Vladimir Walter.

According to Alexander Bobrakov, Sales Director of Maersk-Eastern Europe, logistics in Russia is a strategic task. “The NSR is a request for variability, the container method allows it. And our company is ready to support development in this direction, ”he said.

Ryba.RF and modernization of ports

At a round table, Alexander Krutikov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Ryba.rf Corporation Investment Partnership, spoke at a round table about the Fish Port project, which aims to ensure the integrated development of logistics in Russia in the Far East and the Arctic. “The first participants were the Antey Group of Companies and the North-West Fisheries Consortium,” the speaker explained. “A specialized infrastructure will be created on the territory of four ports, their total cargo turnover will amount to 4.6 million tons.” Also in the plans is the creation of a fish exchange. The terms of the projects are 3-4 years.

The significance and development prospects of the exchange institute in the fish market were outlined by the managing director of the St. Petersburg International Commodity Exchange Alexei Ryzhikov. According to him, the exchange allows for maximum transparency of transactions. Anton Semikin, Director of Sea Fish Kamchatka, shared his experience of participating in the auction. He noted that as a broker, he is waiting for the fish trading to receive state regulation: “The Fish Exchange will exclude all risks for the buyer,” he said.

President of the Association of Food Sector Organizations (ASORPS) Mikhail Sinev drew attention to the need to develop refrigeration systems that preserve the quality of fish. According to him, during transportation in non-specialized rolling stock and containers, fish is repeatedly exposed to temperature violations during storage. “The temperature of the fish should not rise above -18 degrees, while checks show that this is happening at the moment, - stressed the president of ASORPS. - A continuous cooling chain (CCC) should be created with constant monitoring of the state of charge. "

The railroad speeds up

Dmitry Gorokh, deputy director of the corporate transportation services center, a branch of Russian Railways, said that Russian Railways has "rapid retrains": three daily "lines" of the schedule have been developed, allowing up to 6 tons of products to be transported daily. at a speed of 1200 km / day. Container trains have about 40 schedule "lines": reefer containers go as part of container trains on 12 railways, to more than 70 destination stations. A permanent shipping control has been established, allowing the delivery of goods to the Moscow region in 10-11 days. In 2020, 15 trains with refrigerated cargo were shipped from the Far East Railway: 25.1 thousand tons of fish products. In 2021, 32 trains with 40.4 thousand tons of fish have already been dispatched.

Maksimikha PPK logistic complex project in Moscow

Additionally, Russian Railways has a Cold Express project under development. Its objective is to increase the speed of delivery of the merchandise in refrigerated containers due to the possibility of loading without dismantling the train. Investments will amount to about 11 billion rubles.

Since transshipment and storage points play an important role in the logistics of perishable goods, the Maksimikha industrial and food cluster project, which will be deployed in the Moscow region, was presented at the round table. According to Andrey Filatov, Managing Director of Maksimikha PPK, Maksimikha will occupy 120 hectares, the area will be 429 thousand square meters. This will include warehouses, a small wholesale trade zone, a low-temperature production and storage complex, office facilities, and much more. Construction will be completed in the 1st quarter of 2023, the start-up of the first stage of operation is expected in December 2022. Andrey Filatov expressed his hope that the facility will be useful for fish processing companies.

Source: Press Office of the Global  Fishery Forum and Seafood Expo  Russia 2021

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