Russia ups crab deliveries to Japan 160% to 3,900 tonnes in H1
MOSCOW. Aug 21 (Interfax) - Russia exported 3,900 tonnes of crab to Japan in the first half of 2012, which is 160% more than it exported to that country in the same period of last year, representative of the Far Eastern Fishing Companies Union Dmitry Dremlyuga told Interfax, citing Japanese Finance Ministry data.
Japan received medium and large crabs in H1 2012, which were caught in the area of western Kamchatka and the Primorye subarea.
The capture of small Kamchatka crab has also begun in the Ayan area. "In Japan they are well aware of this. There is demand for Ayan crab, since there isn't much left in stock," Dremlyuga said. "However, prices are still constrained by large stocks of west Kamchatka crab," he added.
However, market operators expect to see crab prices fall this year, since they were too high last year. "But the pricing policy will be formulated after Ayan crabs begin to enter the market," he added.
In 2011 Russian fishers caught 42,700 tonnes of crab, or 8.9% more than they caught in 2010.
