Russian seafood ban shouldn’t rock the boat
Industry leader says impacts ‘are not going to be huge here’
As concerns swirl about the impact of the U.S. banning Russian seafood, a Massachusetts seafood industry leader says he’s confident that local prices won’t be hiked.
Mark DeCristoforo, executive director of the Massachusetts Seafood Collaborative, also told the Herald on Thursday that union jobs are not at stake amid these economic sanctions to punish Russia for invading Ukraine.
Last year, the U.S. imported $4 billion of Russian fish for processing. About 6% of all of the fish processed in Massachusetts comes from Russia.
“The real-world impacts are not going to be huge here,” DeCristoforo said, later adding, “When everyone bands together, it’s significant to Russia. That’s the hope we hold out for.”
Russia sends over frozen pollock and king crab legs to the U.S., and then seafood processing facilities here handle the fish and deliver the products to buyers. Pollock is widely used in fastfood sandwiches and processed products like fish sticks.
The pollock and crab from Russia can be caught in Alaska, according to DeCristoforo.
“I’m confident that our compatriots in Alaska can bridge that very small gap,” he added. “It’s not going to be significant in any way, shape or form.”
Importing fish from across the Pacific Ocean has been expensive, DeCristoforo said. Now, it will be sent across the country.
“When it’s all said and done, it probably won’t affect prices too much,” he said.
He emphasized that “not one person” in the local fishing industry will lose their job over these sanctions.
Any price increases on seafood will come more from increased fuel prices than the sanctions, said Angela Sanfilippo, president of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association.
Those in the local fishing industry support the Ukrainian people “very, very much,” she said, adding that they’re “willing to make sacrifice, economic sacrifice, to support them.”
“The people who were profiting from it, they were the ones that said, ‘Let’s support the Ukrainian people. We can lose money for this year, and just show support,’ ” Sanfilippo said.
This gives consumers the opportunity to eat more fresh local seafood, she added.
The impact in Maine could be more significant. More than $50 million in seafood products from Russia passed through Portland last year.
“If you’re getting cod from Russia, it’s going to be a problem,” said Glen Libby, an owner of Port Clyde Fresh Catch, a seafood market in Tenants Harbor, Maine. “That’s quite a mess. We’ll see how it turns out.”