Outlook for fisheries in the Russian Far East as per 15 November 2009

As per 15 November 2009 pollock and longline cod operations as well as blue king crab fishery were the most important fisheries in the Bering Sea Sea, while in the North Kuriles the Russian fleets mostly targeted Atka mackerel and squid. In the Sea of Okhotsk several local expeditions were hunting for a number of species, reports www.fishnet-russia.com (www.fishnet.ru) with reference to fishery sources in Vladivostok.

More specifically, the pollock expedition started working in all the four areas of the Sea of Okhotsk. In the North Okhotsk subarea a group of vessels was hunting for feeding herring. At the western coast of Kamchatka the fishermen were conducting longline fishery of cod, halibut and skates. Several local groups of crabbers were organized in the North Okhotsk and in the Kamchatka Kurile subareas, where the fleets targeted snow crab opilio, snow crab bairdi, triangle tanner crab, blue king crab, golden king crab, as well as red king crab. A small group of vessels was conducting trap fishery of whelks and pink shrimp Pandalus borealis in the North Okhotsk subarea.

Provisional catch figures for Russia's Far East Basin on 9-15 November 2009

The pollock fishery in the Bering Sea was conducted by 25 large and 6-7 middle vessels. The fishery situation was very weak with only night trawlings producing more or less good results. In general, by 15 November 2009 the average daily catch decreased from 46 to 34 tonnes per large vessel, while the harvest per effort went down to 17 tonnes. The same situation was observed for middle vessels. The average harvest per vessel declined from 41 tonnes to 26 tonnes daily, and the catch rates per haul decreased to ca.11 tonnes versus 26 tonnes in the beginning of the week under analysis. The pollock harvest from dedicated operations amounted to ca.8000 tonnes. The bycatch contained herring and squid. The catch volumes of these species in the West Bering Sea zone amounted to 193 tonnes and 21 tonnes correspondingly. Along with the above, the dedicated herring fishery was conducted by one Kamchatka vessel who reported the total catch of 360 tonnes from the beginning of the month.

The longline cod fishery in the West Bering Sea zone was conducted by 11 vessels. Their operations just like other vessels targeting other species in the area were impeded by unfavourable weather conditions. As a result, from 9 to 15 November 2009 the longliners harvested only 220 tonnes of cod, daily handling from 130 to 170 km of line and catching from 22 to 46 tonnes per day depending on the weather conditions.

By the end of the week two more vessels joined the crabber fleet operating on the blue king crab grounds in the West Bering Sea zone. The fishery was conducted by 7-10 crabbers, daily catching from 1700 to 7600 crabs per trap depending on the weather. The daily catch rates therefore ranged from 3 to 6 tonnes. The weekly harvest of blue king crab did not exceed 30 tonnes.

In the waters of the North Kuriles the fishing vessels started to leave the area as the fishing conditions on the squid grounds worsened and the conditions for pollock fishery in the Sea of Okhotsk improved. By the end of the week the fleet targeting squid and Atka mackerel in the area decreased to 8 vessels. From 10 to 22 hauls were daily made by the group harvesting ca.600 tonnes of squid and a little more than 700 tonnes of Atka mackerel through the week under analysis. In the North and South Kurile spollock was harvested as bycatch in the multi-species fishery. In the waters of the North Kuriles three vessels based in the islands were conducting dedicated operations and reported the total harvest of 280 tonnes through the week.

In the same area one Sakhalin-based vessel carried out the dedicated grenadier fishery. Making two hauls per day the vessel harvested 160 tonnes through the week. Taking into account the bycatch of grenadier on the grounds of other fish the total harvest in the Kuriles amounted to 264 tonnes.

In the inshore waters of the Kuriles the fishermen were targeting sea scallops (26 tonnes), sea urchins (86 tonnes), sea cucumber (22 tonnes) and octopus.

Once large expedition of saury harvesters in the South Kuriles practically discontinued fishing due to extremely unfavourable conditions on the grounds. The vessels were leaving the fishing area never having had a success on the grounds. As compared to last year the catch gap exceeded 40,000 tonnes.

At the same time, the fleets working in the Sea of Okhotsk altogether boosted the catch rates by 8000 tonnes on the previous week. The fishing efforts on the pollock grounds increased by 17 in number. While in the beginning of the month the fleet was distributed fairly evenly in the subareas of the Sea of Okhotsk, by the end of the week the vessels concentrated mostly in the West Kamchatka subarea and reported daily catches of more than 2000 tonnes. The area's total harvest of pollock through the week amounted to more than 10,000 tonnes. In the North Okhotsk subarea the dedicated harvest amounted to 2500 tonnes, the catch in the East Sakhalin subarea amounted to 1400 tonnes. The harvest in the Kamchatka Kurile subarea by two vessels amounted to only 270 tonnes.

The Okhotsk herring was harvested at bycatch in the trawl fishery and in the dedicated expedition fishery. A group of 25-29 vessels was targeting herring, the expedition's daily catches ranging from 850 to 1100 tonnes. Fishable concentrations of herring enabled the fleets to conduct efficient operations. The harvest of feeding herring in the Sea of Okhotsk amounted to ca.8500 tonnes through the week including bycatch in other fisheries.

In the south of the west coast of Kamchatka up to 5 longliners were hunting for cod, halibut, skates and grenadier. The share of halibuts (black halibut) in the daily catches fluctuated from 20% to 50%.

Stronger fishing efforts on the crab grounds (namely 9-13 crabbers) were operating on the grounds of snow crab opilio. The red king crab fishery was conducted by 5-9 ships in the North Okhotsk subarea. In the Kamchatka Kurile subarea the fishermen were targeting snow crab bairdi with the total harvest of three vessels amounting to 15 tonnes.

The trawl fishery of pink shrimp in the North Okhotsk subarea by the end of the week was conducted by four vessels. The group's harvest per haul ranged from 350 to 500 kilos with the average harvest per ship therefore amounting to 1.7-2.0 tonnes per day and the catch through the week totaling ca.80 tonnes.

In conclusion, the fishing operations in the Sea of Okhotsk were the most efficient, diverse and multi-species fisheries conducted in the seas of the Russian Far East from 9 to 15 November 2009 with the contribution of the Okhotsk fleets accounting for 58.2% or more than 26,000 tonnes of the Basin's harvest. In the meantime, the harvest in the Bering Sea was dwindling and amounted to only 10,000 tonnes, thus accounting for 21.7% of the Basin's total catch. As compared to the fleets' operations in the previous week catches decreased at the eastern shores of Kamchatka and in the Kuriles due to a number of objective and subjective reasons.