Barents Sea catch and quota progress in May 2021

During the fifth month of 2021 Russian fleets operating in the Atlantic Ocean harvested 106,600 tonnes of fish, 5,300 tonnes down on April 2021, reports Megafishnet.com. 

Bottom trawl fishery

According to Fishnet.ru, bottom trawl fishery in the Barents Sea was run by up to 67 medium and 37 small vessels coming from Murmansk-led North Fisheries. The fishing grounds were mostly located in the Norwegian zone and in the Spitsbergen area:

• in Russian EEZ - 21,400 tonnes (+8,700 tonnes on April 2021) or 52% of the total May catch, including 15,600 tonnes of cod, 5,100 tonnes of haddock, 500 tonnes of flounder, 100 tonnes of sea cat and 100 tonnes of halibut;
• in Spitsbergen area – 18,300 tonnes (+13,500 tonnes) or 45%, including 13,100 tonnes of cod, 3,400 tonnes of haddock, 800 tonnes of sea cat, 500 tonnes of halibut, 300 tonnes of redfish, 100 tonnes of flounder and 100 tonnes of other bottomfish;
• in Norwegian EEZ the fishery was sporadic with the total catch through the month amounting to 1,200 tonnes (-20,400 tonnes) or 3% of the total May catch, including 800 tonnes of cod, 300 tonnes of haddock and 100 tonnes of halibut.

Flounder

Dedicated flounder fishery was run by up to 20 small and 3 middle vessels coming from Murmansk. Their total harvest amounted to 875 tonnes (+251 tonnes), including 71% of flounder.

Redfish

One Kaliningrad-based trawler and seven trawlers coming from Murmansk started redfish operations in the Barents Sea as of 10 May after the fishery ban had been lifted. The fishery situation was favourable. In the course of the month under analysis the fishermen harvested 2,300 tonnes, including 74% of redfish. The total redfish catch from the beginning of the year amounted to 6,769 tonnes of redfish, including 3,549 tonnes from dedicated operations. The Russian quota for redfish capture in 2021 has been set at 13,908 tonnes and plus 2,200 tonnes can be harvested as bycatch in other 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. The longliners preferred working in the Norwegian EEZ (59%) and to a lesser extent in the Spitsbergen area (27%) and in the Russian EEZ (14%). In May 2021 Russia’s longliner fleet harvested 2,900 tonnes of fish (+900 tonnes). The above catch consisted of 44% of cod, 46% of sea cat, 5% of haddock, 3% of halibut and 2% of other fish species.

In January-May 2021 Russian fleets operating in the Barents Sea harvested 164,000 tonnes of cod (cod quota remainder – 57.5%) and 32,500 tonnes of haddock (68.8%).

Shrimp

The shrimp fishery in Russian waters of the Barents Sea was conducted by 7 vessels coming from Murmansk and 2 trawlers from the Russian Far East. They harvested 2,518 tonnes of pink shrimp through the month (+644 tonnes). The total catch from the beginning of the year amounted to 5,497 metric tons. Last year the total catch by the end of May amounted to 9,890 tonnes. The catch lag is rooted by smaller fishing efforts (last May shrimp was targeted by 18 vessels).

Snow crab

In May 2021 snow crab trap fishery in the Barents Sea was conducted by 11 vessels coming from Murmansk and 5 vessels from the Russian Far East. They altogether harvested 4,291 tonnes of snow crab (+1,045 tonnes) through the month. The total harvest from January to May 2021 amounted to 9,861 tonnes of snow crab out of the TAC of 13,250 tonnes. In 2020 snow crab catch as per May 31 totalled 5,092 tonnes.

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

Notes: 1. Russia’s halibut quota includes 2,000 tonnes of halibut bycatch; 2. Russia’s deepwater redfish quota includes 2,200 tonnes allocated as bycatch. 3. Source of catch data: Fishnet.ru

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