Results of Russian fisheries in Q1 2019

In the first three months of 2019 Russian fleets harvested 1.33 million metric tons of finfish and other seafood, 3% down year-on-year, reports www.megafishnet.com.

The above figure includes more than 1 mln MT (+1.3%) caught in the Russian Far East Fishery Basin. The APO harvest grew by 11,300 tonnes to 830,500 tonnes, cod catches – by 14,500 tonnes to 42,800 tonnes. The herring fishery was less successful with the Q1 result showing a decline by 12,500 tonnes to 53,900 tonnes.

In the North Fishery Basin the nation’s fleets harvested 129,000 tonnes of seafood, 81,700 tonnes or 38.8% down on the corresponding result of last year. Cod catches in the Basin declined by 5,000 tonnes to 100,900 MT, haddock – by 12,400 to 16,100 tonnes.

In the West Fishery Basin the catch declined by 13.7% to 27,230 tonnes. The sprat catches amounted to 18,400 tonnes, 4,200 tonnes down on last year. Catches of Baltic herring grew by 130 tonnes to 8,110 tonnes.

In the Azov-Black Sea Fishery Basin the Russian fishermen harvested 20.3 thousand tonnes, which was 13.5% less than last year. The catch of European anchovy decreased by 4,600 tons to 16.5 thousand tonnes. In the meantime, the sprat harvest increased by 600 tonnes to 1,600 tonnes.

In the Volga-Caspian Fisherу Basin catches more than doubled from 1,500 tonnes to 3,200 tonnes. The sprat catches went 100 tonnes down on last year and amounted to 50 tonnes only, while catches of large and small were produced in the kilka harvest, which is 0.1 thousand tons less than last year. The catch of large and small fish species increased by 1,500 tonnes to 1,700 tonnes.

In January-March 2019 the total catch of Russian vessels in foreign zones, convention areas and in the international waters increased by 32.4% and reached 141,200 metric tons.