EU considers ban on fish imports from Russia, potentially impacting Germany

The EU is discussing new sanctions against Russia, which may include a ban on imports of Russian fish.

As reported by Die Welt, the EU imposed a ban on the import of crustaceans and caviar from Russian companies in April 2022 as part of the 8th sanctions package, but fish was omitted. The EU is now considering stricter import bans, which may also encompass fresh fish.

This issue is being raised by the EU's Baltic states. First of all, the Lithuanian government complains that fishing trawlers from Russia are fishing in the country and demands countermeasures, including further restrictions on fish exports.

Political observers expect discussions on this issue in the European Commission after the summer recess.

The European Fish Processors and Traders Association (AIPCE) estimates that more than 70% of pollock imported to the EU in 2022 came from Russian fisheries. The industry association Fisch-Informationszentrum estimates that up to 85% of Alaskan pollock consumed in Germany currently comes from Russia.

Germany is dependent on imports for fish processing, as it has only six deep-sea trawlers and has little or no deep-sea fishing of its own.

"If the supply from the Russian Alaskan pollock fishery were to stop completely due to sanctions, there would be no substitute for it at the moment," commented Stephan Mayer, Managing Director of the Federal Association of the German Fish Industry and Fish Wholesalers.

The US fishery alone cannot compensate for these volumes for the German market, he added. "At the moment, there is no other fishery in the world that provides the necessary volumes and the stamp of sustainability," Mayer said.

The United States is the second largest supplier of this type of fish to Europe after Russia. The US has banned imports of Russian Alaskan pollock.

The finance ministers of eight EU countries recently stated that Russia is disseminating a false narrative about the strength of its economy. They noted that Western sanctions have effectively impacted Russia's military machine, although they believe the sanctions need to be further strengthened.

At the end of June, the Council of the EU adopted the latest, 14th package of economic and individual restrictive measures against Russia, which, for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, included sanctions against Russian gas.