After Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the reaction of Western countries was swift and decisive, with the European Union and the United States unanimously deciding to support Ukraine and punish Russia with economic sanctions.
Two years later, Russia's economy remains resilient, but the war continues.
“Sanctions work. And there are few alternatives that work more effectively. But they are not at full capacity,” Agiya Zagreverska, head of Ukraine's National Anti-Corruption Agency, told Al Jazeera.
Some Russian industries were immediately sanctioned, but some important industries were not.
Russian fishing has only been partially blocked by Washington, and to a lesser extent by the European bloc, which continues to import about $1 billion worth of seafood from its aggressive neighbors.
“Are the lives of hundreds of Ukrainians worth one crab or salmon?” Zagreverska said.
Since February 2022, when the invasion began, the EU has passed 13 sanctions packages against Russia targeting President Vladimir Putin and his allies, as well as Russian banks, media companies, political parties and militias.
However, European sanctions have excluded most food products from Russia.
Much of Russia's multibillion-dollar seafood business, including Alaska pollock and cod, continued to flood fish markets and restaurants in the EU and the United States.
In March 2022, the United States included Russian seafood products under sanctions. Then, late last year, the government issued an executive order to take further measures banning Russian-origin seafood that has been incorporated into or substantially processed into another product in a third country.
The new sanctions aim to close loopholes.
Russia could not export seafood directly to the United States, so it sent ships to South Korea and China for processing.
Stephanie Madsen, president of the U.S.-based At-Sea Processors Association, said the Russian fish ended up crossing the EU-U.S. border under false pretenses and labeled from other countries.
Madsen testified before the U.S. Congress that Russian fish exports also directly funded Russia's war in Ukraine. In 2023, $3.97 billion from new Russian fish export duties and an auction to distribute pollock and crab fishing quotas reportedly supported Putin's war effort.
“The vast majority of American consumers do not support the war in Ukraine,” said Sally Yozel, director of the environmental security program at the Stimson Center think tank.
“I think they would feel very uncomfortable if people thought that the fish sticks they were eating at home were the same as they were eating at home.” [fish] The sandwiches they were eating for lunch were made from Russian pollock, which was supporting the Russian regime in its war against Ukraine. ”
cleaning fish
Even if seafood sanctions are in place, keeping fish from entering markets in Europe or the United States can be difficult, as seafood is not always easily traced.
One representative from the Environmental Justice Foundation, a British NGO, said: “Many EU member states do little to verify seafood imports, and products from illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing are “It gives us an opportunity to enter the market.”
Regarding the U.S. system, Yozel said the compulsory harvest permit, which indicates where the fish comes from, is an easily manipulated PDF file.
He said the U.S. has been monitoring illegally caught seafood entering the U.S. market through the Seafood Import Surveillance Program since 2018, but the program focuses on only 13 species and excludes fish and shellfish that enter the U.S. market, such as walleye. It added that some of the incoming Russian seafood was not included. And halibut.
This means that even in the United States, where Russian seafood is directly banned, the fish served in restaurants and sold in supermarkets may be supporting the Russian economy.
As a result, the EU imports around 740,000 tonnes of pollock, one-third of which is imported directly from Russia and the remaining third from China, of which 95 percent is Russian-sourced. Guus Pastor, head of the EU Fish Commissioner, said: Association of Processor Trades (AIPCE).
Russia will increase its fish exports to the EU in 2022 despite tensions over the Ukraine war, Russian daily Kommersant reported, citing trade statistics. In the same year, sales volume increased by 18%, and in 2023 it increased by another 13%, reaching an all-time high.
Much of Russia's catch stops at South Korea's Busan port, one of the world's largest shipping ports, before reaching Western markets.
Since Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, the port has seen a significant increase in Russian seafood.
Data obtained in part from the Environmental Justice Foundation for this study shows that the Russian side of the port is busier than ever.
The numbers are staggering. For example, in 2021, no Russian ships brought halibut, an expensive white fish commonly caught in the Russian/Norwegian Barents Sea, to Busan Port.
But in 2023, after the war began, the port imported more than 11,000 tons.
While some of that fish may end up in the South Korean market, South Korean halibut exports to the United States and China increased significantly in the same year.
In 2023, South Korea imported 213,000 tons of seafood from Russia, but in 2022 it was 439,000 tons, and in 2020 it was 185,000 tons.
South Korea's fish exports to Europe and the United States have skyrocketed. From 2021 to 2022, frozen herring exports to the United States increased by 99%, and fillet exports to Germany soared by 541%.
During most of the war, Russian seafood producers were not only exempt from sanctions, but also enjoyed several privileges. Some fish arrived in the EU without or with reduced taxes.
In January 2024, the Council of the European Union ended these benefits.
However, not everyone was happy with the increased tariffs on Russian fish.
“Of course, this comes at a price. [of fish] These tariffs will be calculated as the final price for the consumer, so tariffs will rise,” said Guus Pastor, president of the EU Seafood Processors Association. “While we understand the political reasons behind this, we believe this sets a dangerous precedent.”
Now back in Ukraine, Zagreverska has been campaigning around the clock for tougher sanctions.
“Until 2014, I thought that freedom and fundamental rights are what we have by default. Today, all Ukrainians know that freedom is something to be won and defended. ”
This article was produced with support from the Journalism Fund Europe in collaboration with Aktuálně.cz and Kringvarp Føroya in the Faroe Islands.
