MOSCOW, August 23. /TASS/. At the Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo 2018, there will be an opening ceremony for International Year of the Salmon, which has been established by the world community of scientists and ecologists and will include a series of events designed to resolve the problems of maintaining global stocks of these types of fish.

The International Year of the Salmon opening ceremony will be held on the Forum’s third day and will be attended by Deputy Minister of Agriculture and head of the Federal Agency for Fishery Ilya Shestakov, NASCO President Jóannes Hansen, NPAFC President Suam Kim, NPAFC Executive Director Vladimir Radchenko, Director of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) Kirill Kolochin and Director of WWF Russia Igor Chestin.

Specialists first spoke of the need for this project over ten years ago. Co-operation between countries will create an opportunity to clarify many aspects of the ecology of salmon, the study of which requires considerable resources considering the salmon’s extensive natural habitat and their complex life cycle.

Within the scope of International Year of the Salmon, from autumn 2018 to the end of 2019, it is planned to implement a complex of measures base on proposals made by the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) and the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO). 
The programme includes scientific expeditions and other events designed, among other things, to popularize research and ecological education, to develop exchange of information about the state of popularization and the industry. An important component of the project remains the fight against the illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and to control the fish catch. 

According to the NPAFC, the global catch of Pacific salmon, has no, since the drop in the 1950s–1970s to 400 thousand tonnes, risen to almost one million tonnes. ICES statistics indicate a drop in the global catch of anadromous Atlantic salmon from 12 thousand tonnes in the 1970s to 1.2 thousand tonnes in 2017. This is connected with a cut in the numbers of salmon and restrictions on the industry. A large part of the Atlantic salmon catch in 2017 was taken from rivers (64%), though a significant number of fish are still caught in the sea on migration routes in the countries of the South East Atlantic. The biggest sea catch in 2017 was registered by Norway – 290 thousand tonnes, including 138 thousand tonnes declared in the province of Finnmark, where salmon of Russian origin are caught.

The Second Global Fishery Forum & Seafood Expo 2018 will take place in St. Petersburg from 13 through 15 September at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Complex. The event is being organized by the Federal Agency for Fishery and the operator is the Roscongress Foundation. 

Official Forum website: www.fishexpoforum.com

Contact information for the Media:
Media Directorate, The Roscongress Foundation
Tel.: +7 (812) 406-77-09
Email: media@roscongress.org

Reference:

The Organizer: The Federal Agency for Fishery (Rosrybolovstvo) regulates the sphere of catching, maintaining and reproducing water bioresources. The Agency’s jurisdiction covers organizing fishing and scientific support for the industry, developing aquaculture (fish breeding), supervision over fishing fleet navigation safety and performance of emergency response work in fishing regions and fish maintenance measures.

Rosrybolovstvo’s tasks include ensuring sustainable development of the fishing industry complex, which makes a tremendous contribution to the country’s food security and is a driver of economic growth for coastal regions.

The Russian Federation accounts for over 5.5% of the global seafood catch, putting it in 4th position in the world. In 2017, Russia achieved a record catch for the last 25 years: 4.9 m tonnes of water bioresources, which is almost 3% more than in 2016. The industry turnover was RUB 310 bn, 7% above the 2016 indicator.

Information support provided by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Russian Federation.

Forum operator: The Roscongress Foundation is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer of international conventions, exhibition and public events.

The Roscongress Foundation was founded in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development of Russia’s economic potential and strengthening the country’s image by organizing international conventions, exhibitions, and public events. The Foundation develops substantive content for such events, providing companies and organizations with advice, information, and expert guidance, and offering comprehensive evaluation, analysis, and coverage of the Russian and global economic agendas. It offers administrative services and promotional support for business projects and helps to attract investment, including in the form of public-private partnerships.

Today, its annual programme includes events held from Montevideo to Vladivostok, offering an opportunity to bring together global business leaders, experts, the media, and government officials in one place, creating favourable conditions for dialogue and the promotion of new ideas and projects, and assisting in the creation of social enterprise and charity projects.