Armenia's fish farmers warn of collapse after Russian import ban

Armenia's fish farmers warned that their industry is heading for collapse, taking their protest to the doorstep of the government building in Yerevan on 21 July 2026. The trigger is the loss of their single largest market: Russia has banned imports of Armenian fish, and exports have been halted since May 2026.

The scale of the disruption is stark. In recent years Armenia exported 10,000 to 15,000 tonnes of fish annually, but the domestic market can absorb only about 10 percent of current production. The rest is stranded — feed costs mount while unsold stock has nowhere to go.

"We feed the fish, but production is shut down, it's not working," said fish farmer Levon Sevoyan, capturing the squeeze facing producers. Redirecting exports to Europe offers little relief: shipments take 10 to 16 days to reach foreign markets, and Armenian producers say they cannot match the lower costs and easier logistics of competitors such as Norway, Turkey and Denmark.

There is a bitter irony in the timing. Armenia's aquaculture sector expanded after 2014, when Russia closed its market to Norwegian producers and handed Armenian exporters an opening. The same market that built the industry has now, with its closure, pushed it to the brink — and farmers are demanding that the government step in with a solution.

Source: Panorama.am.