Barents Sea catch and quota progress in February 2021

During the second month of 2021 Russian fleets operating in the Atlantic Ocean harvested 88,400 tonnes of fish, 26,800 tonnes up on January 2021, reports Megafishnet.com. 

Bottom trawl fishery

According to Fishnet.ru, bottom trawl fishery in the Barents Sea was run by up to 69 medium and 30 small vessels coming from Murmansk-led North Fisheries, along with 3 Kaliningrad trawlers. The trawlers were operating in three areas of the sea:

in the Norwegian EEZ, where the fishery was the most active – 29,600 tonnes (71% of the total February catch), including 23,500 tonnes of cod, 2,900 tonnes of saithe, 2,400 tonnes of haddock, 400 tonnes of redfish and 400 tonnes of other fish species;
in the Russian EEZ (less active fishing operations) - 10,000 tonnes of fish (24%), including 5,400 tonnes of cod, 4,000 tonnes of haddock and 600 tonnes of sea cat and other fish species;
in Spitsbergen area – the remaining 2,000 tonnes (-1,100 tonnes) or 8% of the total catch, including 1,400 tonnes of cod, 600 tonnes of haddock and 100 tonnes of other fish species.

Redfish

Dedicated redfish operations in the Norwegian EEZ in the Barents Sea were conducted by up to 5 trawlers coming from Murmansk-led North Fisheries and three trawlers from Kaliningrad. Their total catch in February amounted to 2,300 tonnes of fish, of which redfish accounted for 77%. The total catch since the beginning of the year amounted to 3030 tonnes of redfish, including 1862 tonnes from dedicated operations. The red fish quota 2021 amounts to 13,908 tonnes, plus 2200 tonnes to be covered as bycatch in other fisheries. From 1 March to 19 May the dedicated redfish fishery has been suspended according to the order of Norway’s Directorate for Fisheries.

Longline fishery

Bottom longline fishery in the Barents Sea was run by 10 vessels from the Northern Basin and one vessel from St. Petersburg. Just like trawlers, the longliners preferred working in the Norwegian EEZ (64%) and to a lesser extent in the Russian EEZ (32%) and in the Spitsbergen area (4%). In February 2021 Russia’s longliner fleet harvested 2,500 tonnes of fish, in keeping with the January catch. The above catch consisted of 46% of cod, 43% of sea cat, 8% of haddock, 2% of halibut and 1% of other fish species.

In January-February 2021 Russian fleets operating in the Barents Sea harvested 60,200 tonnes of cod (cod quota remainder – 84.4%) and 14,300 tonnes of haddock (86.3%). For comparison, last year the respective results were 65,100 tonnes of cod and 13,90 tonnes of haddock.

Snow crab

On 10 February 2021 the Russian fleets operating in the national EEZ started the snow crab trap fishery. More specifically, there were 6 vessels owned by OOO Antey from the Russian Far East and ZAO Arcticservice and OOO SZRK-Murman from Murmansk-led North Fisheries. The total harvest by the end of February amounted to 538 tonnes of snow crab out of the TAC of 13,250 tonnes. In 2020 the snow crab fishery took off on 16 February and the result by the end of the month totaled 100 tonnes.

Shrimp

The shrimp fishery in the Russian waters of the Barents Sea got started on 17 February 2021 with two RTIP vessels owned by AO Karat-1 from Murmansk. Later one more RTIP vessel also coming from Murmansk joined the first one on the grounds. The total catch from the beginning of the year amounted to 175 metric tons. Last year the fishery took off on 1 February and by the end of the month the shrimp harvest totalled 1636 tonnes.

BARENTS SEA: Dynamics of Russian catches and quota progress in January-February 2020-2021

Notes: 1. Russia’s halibut quota includes 2200 tonnes of halibut bycatch; 2. Russia’s deepwater redfish quota includes 2000 tonnes allocated as bycatch. 3. Source of catch data: Fishnet.ru

For copyright please contact Vera Aldokhina at vera@megafishnet.com.