From Portugal’s oven-roasted cod to Poland’s crispy fried version, Russian fish still lands on European plates despite attempts to slash imports.

While some EU countries are pushing for stricter limits, others warn that the bloc is too hooked on Moscow’s catch.

The Baltics, Finland and Sweden are continuously seeking new ways to use economic leverage to pressure the Kremlin to end its war against Ukraine, and given they share the Baltic Sea with Russia fish is a major issue.

Together, the countries think Moscow’s fishing fleet could take a hit and have repeatedly called for higher tariffs on Russian seafood, tonnes of which are still entering the EU.

For environmental NGOs, it is also a moral imperative. “Russian fishing vessels are closely connected to the regime … so there is a link with the war in Ukraine,” Vanya Vulperhorst, Oceana’s expert in illegal fishing, told Euractiv in a phone interview.

Two of Russia’s fishing giants, Norebo and Murman Seafood, were recently found guilty of conducting state-sponsored espionage in EU waters, prompting sanctions.

Still, the Commission has brushed aside calls for further restrictions on fish imports, an idea that many EU countries eye warily.

Latvia’s farm and fisheries minister, Armands Krauze, told Euractiv he’s still fishing for support.

“In the current geopolitical situation, we cannot stop at what has already been done,” he said. “In order to support Ukraine, we need to consistently continue restricting trade with Russia and Belarus.”

Caviar and cod

In public statements, the Commission argues that enough has been done to move away from Russian fish.

Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine, the EU went for an easy target and banned the import of caviar – along with champagne and diamonds – even though Russia supplied very little of it. But other, less-glamorous fish products kept flowing in, notably cod and Alaska pollock, some of which even entered duty-free.

The EU stripped these imports of access to any tariff reductions as of 2024, but that same year, it still bought €709 million worth of Russian fish. Most of it went to the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland.

In her native Germany, Vulperhorst is trying to stop these products from slipping into her supermarket cart unnoticed.

“There is a QR code on the packet of the fish fingers that my daughters eat. It allows you to see which boat made the catch,” she said. A bit of research on her phone allowed her to boycott Russian cod and go for Icelandic instead.

Still, most labels are not that straightforward, as this reporter witnessed firsthand when shopping for cod in Brussels. Packages show no flag state but codes such as “FAO 67” or “FAO 27”, which lead to waters exploited by Russian vessels, among others. 

From Portugal to Poland

In several countries, any move against Russian cod ripples through both their economies and culinary traditions. That is especially evident in Portugal, known for its love for bacalhau. The Portuguese claim to have over 1,000 ways of cooking it.

Along with the Netherlands and Poland, the country ranks among the EU’s top three importers of Russian cod. Portugal has been leaning on foreign supplies to keep its plates full for years, the national association of SMEs, CPPME, explained.

“After several centuries of direct fishing in Newfoundland, Canada, a 1992 ban imposed by Canada due to the depletion of cod stocks forced the Portuguese to look for new sources to meet their needs,” said Jorge Carmaneiro, vice-president of the CPPME, in an email. He explained that this led traders to jump to frozen Russian cod and Norwegian green salted cod.

For Carmaneiro, current tariffs on Russian cod imports – at around 12% – are already pinching pockets hard.

“In the run-up to Christmas, prices [are] reaching levels never seen before,” he said.

At the opposite end of the EU is Poland, among the fiercest advocates of going after Moscow. Warsaw recently asked Brussels for higher tariffs on several Russian products, but kept fish off the list.

This comes as no surprise, given how locked Polish processors are into Russian cod.

“We are almost 100% dependent on imports. There is no physical, practical way to obtain this raw material within the EU,” said Sylwester Szymanik, from the Polish association of processors, in a parliamentary debate last year. “We would love to, but we are in a completely different place than we were some years ago.”

The Norwegian backdoor

To complicate matters further, Russian fish is also finding its way into the EU through several back channels.

The Brussels-based fishing lobby Europêche has long been denouncing the fact that Russian-caught cod can enter the EU duty-free after being processed in Norway.

Vulperhorst also warned of a “loophole”.

“If you sufficiently process a product in Norway, you can say it’s Norwegian,” she said. “You can launder the Russian origin of the catch.”

Vulperhorst also argued that if Europe wants to boost the autonomy of its fisheries, it needs to manage its stocks more effectively. Notably in the Baltic Sea – one of the most polluted bodies of water in the world and practically an EU lake, save for Russia’s corner.

But the Baltic countries have repeatedly said that tightening their own nets to help species recover will mean little if Moscow casts its nets wider.

https://www.euractiv.com/news/russian-fish-could-be-slipping-onto-your-christmas-table/

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