AquaProExpo, the exhibition of equipment and technologies for catching, breeding and processing of fish and seafood, which was held on April 12-14 in Moscow, was the main theme of the exhibition.
62 companies from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk, Krasnodarskiy Krai, Armenia, and Israel participated in the exhibition. 2,519 specialists from 86 cities in Russia, as well as from Uzbekistan, Armenia, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan visited the exhibition during three days of exhibition work.
More than 100 experts, practitioners and scientists presented in the business program and spoke about the prospects of the industry, cost optimization, new and effective technologies of fish breeding and human resources in the fishing industry.
The focus this year was on feed, additives, equipment – everything that was largely imported from abroad.
MODUS GRANUM company, the largest supplier of fish feed, offered its visitors a wide range of fully extruded and therapeutic and prophylactic feeds.
At the stand of Eurosnab the high quality LE GOUESSANT feed for trout and sturgeon fish breeders was presented.
"Karelian Fish Factories" presented at the exhibition feeds of its own production. Initially established as a cage trout farm, KFF produced fodder only for its own needs. Nowadays the factory increases the volume of production and is ready to supply feeds to fish farms of all regions of Russia with 7 years experience. Which now comes in handy as never before.
A dry probiotic food additive for improving immunity and combating toxins from Belarusian manufacturer PRIMALAC could be found at the "PROBIOCORMA" booth.
"Sivetra-Agro" presented a natural alternative to antibacterial drugs - feed additive "Aquatan". The additive allows to improve the growth rate and survival rate of fish and seafood, and thus reduce the cost of production.
Belarusian company "VapStep" introduced natural feed additives based on essential oils, the use of the product in the diet gives results comparable to the effect of antibacterial drugs.
AVIS (Rostov) products included technologies for mycotoxin contamination risk management, integrated approaches to natural growth stimulation and technologies specifically designed to meet the nutritional needs of fish.
Tatyana Shugurova (company ARTA-CONSALT) presented new popular products based on fish.
Another important problem raised by both exhibitors and visitors to the exhibition was fish stocking material. The vast majority of fertilized caviar was imported by Russian companies. Now enterprises are forced to look for new suppliers. Some farms, like Karelian Fish Factories, are considering forming their own brood stock: receive caviar, milk, fertilize it, maintain and support the brood stock so that they do not depend on the situation
According to Oleg Konstantinov, sales director of Corolan NEO, it is impossible to replace all imported components overnight. But the current situation should encourage the development of our own production. There are manufacturers of quality products in Russia, but in the pursuit of brands they were not given the attention they deserved. Withdrawal from the market of expensive foreign producers will enable domestic enterprises to increase both production volumes and product quality.
In addition, there are segments in the fish industry where Russia has every opportunity to become a world leader. Thus, according to Alexander Nevredinov, the head of Eurasian Aquaculture Alliance, the future of Russian aquaculture is in the polar region: "Russia can and should become an absolute leader in growing Arctic cold fish - whitefish, salmon, crabs.
Among the absolute novelties presented at AquaPro Expo is the Luxsol netwinding factory's signaling network. This technology was developed and put into production at the end of 2022. The signaling net is installed in segments, detects web breaks and thus allows to protect cages or water areas from illegal intrusion.
The largest supplier of knotless thermocontracted diesels in the North-West region of Russia, ICTM "Petrocanat", presented at its stand the cages with numerous thought-out elements. ICTM invests in development and develops new areas. This spring "Petrokanat" presented its visitors products for fishery and aquaculture.
Ropes, threads for the manufacturing and repairing of fishing gear, and fishery maintenance for aqua farmers and specialists in the fishing industry was presented by the St. Petersburg company "Kanat".
Innovative closed cages could be found at the stand of Infragroup International (Vologda). Similar pilot projects are now being implemented in Norway and Turkey. Closed cages reduce fish mortality and significantly reduce the negative impact on the environment.
2,519 specialists from 86 cities visited the exhibition. This figure increased by 20% compared to 2021.
Among the regions that were represented by visitors: Krasnodar Krai, Rostov, Belgorod, Vladimir, Kaluga, Yaroslavl, Novosibirsk, Primorsky regions, Khanty-Mansi and Yamalo-Nenets AO, Sakhalin region, Republic of Karelia, Tatarstan, as well as Bashkortostan and Crimea.
Many exhibitors noted the quality of the visitors, the high degree of concentration of the target audience and the great interest in the exhibited products
"This year the exhibition is very consolidated, buyers come purposefully, they understand what they need. We liked the exhibition," Dmitry Zekov, director of aquaculture department of Sivetra-Agro LLC, shares his impressions.
The most important thing that was shown at the last exhibition AquaProExpo - despite the unprecedentedly difficult economic situation, sudden breakdown of established ties and supply chains, aquaculture in Russia continues to develop. Industry participants are looking for new opportunities and solutions for business development
Practitioners told about what it takes to take Russian aquaculture to the next level at AquaPro Expo conferences
The development of industrial aquaculture, investments in the industry, solving personnel issues, and most importantly - relying on the country's own resources and comprehensive support of small and medium enterprises, the development of private entrepreneurship - these are the necessary conditions for effective development of the fishing industry unanimously called by all the experts who spoke in the business program of the exhibition
The program of the first day of the exhibition was opened by the conference "Cold Chain - prospects for the development of the continuous cold chain in Russia. Supply chain and transportation of fish and seafood".
Industry experts discussed logistics technologies of fish and seafood processing and transportation, the legal framework, the need for digitalization of the industry. One of the key points in the development of supply chains, experts say, is the practice of cooperation between the participants in the process
Experts of the conference "Aquaculture as a Successful Business", organized together with the Eurasian Aquaculture Alliance, also spoke about the need to consolidate forces of the state, scientific community and representatives of business.
Watch presentations from the conference
Based on the results of the meeting, the Eurasian Aquaculture Alliance, the speakers of the conference and the Organizing Committee of the exhibition prepared a resolution and sent it to the Eurasian Economic Commission and the heads of the 5 EAEC countries.
During practical sessions the experts talked about innovations in aquaculture, know-how in water treatment, feed, veterinary medicine, discussed problems of sales, etc.
The second day of the business program consisted of practical business exercises for beginners and experienced aquafarmers. Each hour was devoted to a different species: sturgeon, trout, herbivorous and carp, catfish, crustaceans
A separate session was devoted to environmental impact assessment of aquaculture enterprises and environmental protection at fish processing plants.
The session "Ecology" was the final lesson of the business course "Aquafarmers' School", which included webinars on various issues of fish farms' work organization during three months. The trainees received certificates of completion of the training course.
The third day of the business program was devoted to the "Day of fish processing technologist", organized jointly with the "Dmitrov fish technology institute".
As part of the Technologist Day, master classes were held on organizing production and quality assurance of fish products. Attendees received a certificate of completion of the training course
The developer and manufacturer of the modern veterinary probiotic "SUB-PRO", "VektroEuro" company traditionally took part in the exhibition business program, besides the exposition: Lyudmila Yukhimenko, candidate of biological sciences, leading researcher of ichthyology laboratory of All-Russian Institute of Fishery Products, made a report "The prevention and treatment of bacterial fish diseases".
"I am a professional ichthyologist fisherman. My area of interest is reproduction of aquatic bioresources and development of commercial aquaculture. This is the third time I visit AquaPro Expo and although the exhibition is small, I am satisfied. I manage to meet a lot of people, exchange contacts and of course just invaluable lectures for aqua farmers. There are a lot of video clips and blogs on aquaculture on the web, but it is very useful to personally meet professionals and have an opportunity to ask questions about my business situation. Thanks again to the organizers of the Exhibition! Timofey Lapin. Kolchugino, Vladimir region.
The organizing committee of the exhibition would like to thank the Eurasian Aquaculture Alliance, "Dmitrov Fishery Technological Institute", as well as partners, participants and speakers who participated in AquaProExpo.
