Sprat spat
Itβs a factory like none I have ever seen before. Rows of women in gumboots and waterproof aprons stand at their stations, sharp little knives in hands, chopping the heads off tiny silver fishes.
The remains drop down on to a sort of dis-assembly line and end up tipped into a vast bucket of miniature fish heads. No wonder there are so many cats in town.
Over the other side of the factory, women pass long needles through the fish and hang them in ranks, battalion upon battalion of spratus spratus balticus ready to go into the smoking machine.
Iβm in Latvia on the Baltic sea, at a firm famous for its smoked sprats. Very tasty they are too. Iβm doing some research, and recording TV and radio pieces for a series on relationships between the European Union and Russia, ahead of their summit at the end of the month.
I wonβt give too much away, but the question is whether the whale next door is still pushing the minnows around.
Although the company meets strict EU standards, the Russians say there is too much of a certain chemical in the sprats, which are very popular in Russia, and theyβve banned imports.
Everyone at the company is sure that the Russians are just trying to protect their market, and use their economic muscle to show whoβs boss.
Itβs an interesting story, the downside is, as ever filming in factories, the dress code. In my time, Iβve worn plenty of shower caps while filming in factories, but we do look right sprats dressed in the pale pink robes that are meant to keep the fish hygienic in our presence.
Baltic Knights of the rosy robe? Or a better headline might be βSprat spat pratβ.
Iβm Mark Mardell, the ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ's North America editor. These are my reflections on American politics, some thoughts on being a Brit living in the USA, and who knows what else? My 
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Mark, have you tried flying in that outfit? it might just work, you know...
A sprat to catch a mardell?
Oh Grandma, what big teeth you have!
Great outfit!
The tiresome thing about the Russians is that they always seem able to sound right, the interesting thing is how selective they are about imposing their correctness.
Mark
The depressing fact that about this report (and most of your other reports from Eastern Europe) is that the EU commission will supinely let the Russian tactics continue. No talk of EU solidarity. No support of Latvian, Polish or Czech industries. Anything to keep the gas flowing through the pipes to Germany and Italy. The commission's failure to support it's new members, while kowtowing to the big countries of the original six shows that the EU treaties should include Squealer's addendum to Animal Farm's seventh commandment "... but some animals are more equal than others"
Mark, probably Britain can start to buy these wonderful latvian sprats. I don't think they are so popular in your country.
Common problem with Russia. They are trying to show off, and they dont like those countries, which once were a part of USSR.
And who suffers? The average Russian costumer, the consumer, who wants to buy it. The supplier.
In other word, anyone else but Russian politicians. It is like a little child, who will cause pain on itself in order to get attention.
The supplier suffers, but why not look for other markets, which probably are more stable?
Finally only Russia will shoot it's own feet. Not really bright.
The single market should be big enough for the Latvian producers. They don't need the Russians who cannot be trusted as long as they are unable to come up with a democratically controlled society.
I am buying Latvian (and Polish) sprats occassionally as some Brussels supermarkets stock them. But it seems that the product is still very much designed for the not very demanding Russian customer.
Latvian and Polish producers need to understand better the consumer markets in the west. Unfortunately this often means that the label is more important than the contents, but that's the way it is.
A sprat with too many chemicals is a spat sprat prat.
Hi Mark,
Well done on putting yourself into an extremely interesting part of the EU. I have no doubt everyone wants to teach you the proper history of the place, and you are not lacking for sources of ready information.
In my own experience, the best places to visit are the border communities, near Lithuania, Belarus and Russia. The people in these "outer" regions are extremely friendly, and they seem not to feel obliged to have any pre-determined political opinions. I was lucky enough to witness active debate between locals regarding history and the nature current EU.
When you see the locals argue, then you know what they think.
Before saying something it is worth to double-check it.
E.g. yesterday I saw more than 10 different kinds of sprats in a usual shop in a usual Moscow suburb. And all of them are, of course, from Latvia.
Does it mean that your words about the banned import are not true? What about your subsequent conclusions about Russia?
nice outfit anyway in every cultural environment :)
to the topic - the main problem of teh businessmen in Baltic coutries is still to much attention paid to the Russia's market instead to develope business in other markets in order to diversificate exports. sprats might be the item which has its only market in Russia :)
Why don't they sell it to EU if it is good according to your article? As an ex-Soviet i can say that it always tasted disgusting. I live in Norway now and have never seen this wonderful product in local shops.
Oh mygosh! Is Moby Dick trully alive and well -now living in Moscow instead of Brussels?
Maybe we need A Horribly Agressive Brussels to save us from the White (Elephantine) whale.... oh succours, yes, oh suckers we......
So is the monster Brussel nothing but a harmless sprat, set in a silver sea? Are we now to be surrounded by evil monsters gobbling at our national independance..... AHAB, YUKIP save us from Yukos and the oily whale which doth glime and glither in our deeps!
Looks like you've been done up like a kipper, mate. Look in the picture at all the factory workers and there is not so much as a hi-viz vest to be seen.
One wonders whether the Russian people will agree with their leaders' assessment of Latvian sprats. Is there much to be said for consumer power in that part of the world? There is surely an alternative market in western Europe and its supermarkets despite the rivalry of the sardine (favoured, no doubt, by the current EU presidency).
Yes, please send the surplus sprats over here. They used to be popular in this country but slowly disappeared in recent decades with the decline in traditional fishmongers. I'd love to find somewhere that sells them. The English style of eating is floured and fried whole then eat everthing except the tail, head first!
Common problem with Russia. They are trying to show off, and they dont like those countries, which once were a part of USSR.
And who suffers? The average Russian costumer, the consumer, who wants to buy it. The supplier.
In other word, anyone else but Russian politicians. It is like a little child, who will cause pain on itself in order to get attention.
The supplier suffers, but why not look for other markets, which probably are more stable?
Finally only Russia will shoot it's own feet. Not really bright.
Mark
The depressing fact that about this report (and most of your other reports from Eastern Europe) is that the EU commission will supinely let the Russian tactics continue. No talk of EU solidarity. No support of Latvian, Polish or Czech industries. Anything to keep the gas flowing through the pipes to Germany and Italy. The commission's failure to support it's new members, while kowtowing to the big countries of the original six shows that the EU treaties should include Squealer's addendum to Animal Farm's seventh commandment "... but some animals are more equal than others"