According to the Federal Agency for Fishery of the Russian Federation, Rosrybolovstvo, Russia will increase seafood exports to emerging markets in 2024, with Brazil, Turkey, Iran, Algeria and Nigeria listed as priority export markets for high value-added products. In addition, the marketing and promotion of high-quality Russian seafood in China, Southeast Asia and the Gulf countries should also be strengthened.

Ilya Shestakov, director of Rosrybolovstvo, said that at present, the amount of wild seafood caught and processed in Russia is increasing, and last year Russian companies started to explore new markets in 20 countries in Eastern Europe, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. This year's marketing efforts will continue to cover more emerging countries.

Russian seafood exports in 2023 totaled 2.56 million tons, an increase of 8.6%. Exports totaled $5.8 billion, dropped 5.6 percent year on year.

Last year, Russia exported 1.21 million tons of seafood to China, twice as much as in 2022. Exports to South Korea were 617,000 tonnes, down 33 per cent year-on-year. Russia also exports 138,000 tons (+4%) of seafood to the Netherlands, 75,500 tons (-3%) to Belarus, 33,000 tons (+43%) to Japan, 26,000 tons (+11%) to Kazakhstan and 18,000 tons (-64%) to Nigeria.

Frozen seafood accounted for 76% of total exports, led by pollock, herring and crab. Rosrybolovstvo expects the total volume and value of Russian maritime exports to increase in 2024.