Canadians skewered by Soviet Surpreme's sea urchins

[Taro Toporific]

Russian competition flattens sea urchin demand
CBC News, Jun 27 2005 08:06 AM NDT
Sea urchin processors say their market has overwhelmed by Russian competition.
Greg Brake of Green's Seafoods in Winterton says the plant is processing less than half the amount of sea urchins that it handled five years ago.
Brake says Russian producers can ship their sea urchin roe--- a delicacy in the Japanese market --- for a fraction of the costs that companies in Newfoundland and Labrador incur....the sea urchin industry, which was launched in 1992...the same year that the northern cod moratorium was imposed ....we saw four or five fairly good years, and now the last two or three have really been in a tailspin," says Brake.
Sea urchin harvesting is an expensive and labour-intensive business, requiring divers and expert handling to insure that roe are shipped fresh to Japan.....more...

[altar]

Did you make that picture on the computer yourself!?

[SovietSupreme]

Why is Canada mad? I gave them chance to join Soviet Union and they said they do not like communist. Now I give them competition and suddenly capitalism is not fair if they are not willing to compete for such low prices that Soviet Union offers.

It is the same thing with America who loves capitalism and competition, but yet cry foul when Wal-Mart opens a new store and small business cannot compete or when other nations are willing to provide same service for fraction of cost. That is pure capitalism that Americans love so long as it does not compete too much with them.

Capitalism only works because there are markets to expand on to. Eventually there will be no room for expansion and capitalism will fail. There will be no choice but to have some sort of capitalism/communism mix. Perhaps this will not be for a hundred years, but it will happen.

[james]

does it say canada is "mad"? all i can seem to find is that the industry there is in the toilet because of russian competition and that they're going to have to wait until russian supply diminishes to the point where supply/demand favours them again. sounds capitalistic enough to me.

i didn't seem to read about anyone calling "foul" or "unfair"..

[Mulboyne]

they're going to have to wait until russian supply diminishes to the point where supply/demand favours them again.

If Russian trade in crab and ikura is anything to go by, that won't be too long.

BBC: Russian mafia 'poaches Bering fish'

Conservationists say illegal fishing is devastating the Bering Sea, which provides Russia and the US with more than half their fish. They say the fishery is nearing collapse, with several species threatened. Much of the illegal activity is said to be controlled by the Russian mafia..."Russian vessels recorded exporting seafood from the Kamchatka region worth $113m to Japan in 1997, while Japan recorded importing seafood from that region worth $442m the same year."

TVE: Death Roe

Every year Kamchatka's rivers host the world's largest runs of spawning salmon. For local people, their red eggs offer an escape from poverty. Asian and European demand for salmon caviar seems insatiable. Russian conservation laws offer little protection. Kamchatka's caviar boom is making smugglers rich...Just a few commercial boats receive caviar licenses from Moscow. They earn millions amidst constant allegations quotas are manipulated by corrupt officials. Japan is by far the biggest foreign buyer. Japanese experts fly in to Kamchatka to make sure they get the product the way they like it: straight from the fish and still in the egg sack lining the womb. Although only a handful of traders are licenced to deal in caviar in Petropavlovsk,there's a surprising proliferation of new mansions and luxury cars for such a poor region.