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Russia’s Inarctica announces new acquisition, following the Norwegian hatcheries selloff

Inarctica, Russia’s largest aquacultural company, has acquired the Mulinsky fish farm in the Nizhny Novgorod region, according to the data from Russia’s state database.

As reported by the Russian press, the farm is engaged in breeding sturgeon (Acipenser) and also has an opportunity to produce Australian crayfish (Palinurus vulgaris), shrimp (Pandalus), and trout (Salmo trutta trutta) for commercial purposes as well as breed fish fry for stocking freshwater reservoirs. Mulinsky fish farm occupies a 5,700 sq. metres land plot and consists of a hatchery, a RAS unit, fish processing capacities and a feed mill.

In 2021, Mulinsky fish farm’s net revenue stood at 21.8 million roubles (US$275,000) and a net profit of 344,000 roubles (US$4,400).

This is not the first Inarctica’s acquisition in 2023. In February, the company purchased the Arkhangelsk algae plant. Inarctica explained that that deal allowed it to enter the growing market of algae and products of their processing.

The Arkhangelsk algae plant is the only enterprise in Russia for growing and deep processing brown algae from the White Sea.

Inarctica, formerly known as Russian Aquaculture, is engaged in breeding Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and trout in the Barents Sea in the Murmansk region, as well as trout in several lakes of the Republic of Keralia. The company operates 35 salmon and trout farming sites in the Russian northwest, with a potential production capacity of around 50,000 tonnes.

In January 2023, Inarctica sold three smolt plants in Norway to local management. The company reportedly was forced to do that, even though these facilities provided its Russian farms with necessary broodstock, due to regulatory restrictions Russian business face in Norway. It is not clear whether these hatcheries will continue working with Inarctica.