Outlook for fisheries in the Russian Far East in August 2007
In the firs half of August the scientists forecast the most abundant runs of chum salmon in the West Bering Sea zone when the fleets are expected to harvest 70-80% of the TAC of 1079 tonnes. The average sizes of fish are expected at 60-65 cm and 2.6-2.7 kilos. The sockeye fishery in the area will finish.
The pink salmon fishery in the East Kamchatka subarea will continue in August and the catch rates will depend only on weather conditions. Should the authorities swiftly approve the requested increase of the TAC, catches would probably exceed the forecasts.
The size of harvested chum salmon is forecasted at 62-63 cm and 3.5-3.6 kilos, however catches of the species will be restrained by the need to cover quotas of more valuable salmon species.
As in July 2007 most of the sockeye quotas were already exhausted in East Kamchatka, the remaining quotas will be covered in August and catches will probably exceed the scientific forecasts.
The pink salmon quota in East Sakhalin will be covered at the greatest extent in August 2007 with the scientists forecasting the harvest at more than 63,000 metric tons. From the second ten days of August the fishermen will start harvesting chum salmon in East Sakhalin with the fish to go mostly for reproduction purposes.
From the second half of August and up to the first ten days of September the scientists expect abundant runs of pink salmon in the South Kuriles. The scientists think that the runs will be fairly large. The fishery efficiency will depend on timely entry of receiving vessels to the grounds. As per early August, 10 vessels have already had their permits pending.
The pink salmon fishery near Okhotsk was practically finished in the second ten days of the month. In the Okhotsk coast the fishermen will harvest up to 80% of the annual chum salmon quota with the stock's runs to peak in the middle of August.
In the last summer month the fleets are expected to harvest the largest share (ca.12,000 tonnes) of the chum salmon quota in West Kamchatka. In this period of the year pink salmon runs will also peak in the area with the potential harvest forecasted at 30,000 tonnes, although until 2005 odd year pink salmon classes have been poor and the harvest of the species in 2005 amounted to 9000 metric tons.
The bulk of the sockeye catches in August 2007 will be contributed by the Ozernaya River in the Kamchatka Kurile subarea.
Saury
In the closing ten days of August in the waters of the South Kuriles the fishermen are expecting stable saury fishery with the average daily harvest forecasted at more than 8 tonnes per vessel. Middle size fish will dominate in catches, though the share of small fish will be higher than in the previous years.
In the Japanese zone catches of longfin codling Laemonema are forecasted at 40-50 tonnes per vessel daily. By the end of August the fishery situation will somewhat improve in the Russian EEZ in the waters of the South Kuriles. Catches may grow to 25-35 tonnes.
August catches of magister squid off Ketoy-Simushir and Paramushir-Onekotan are expected at 4.5-6.0 per tow and 15-20 tonnes per vessel daily.
In the Bering Sea the fleets will continue harvesting Alaska pollock. Daily catches per large vessel are forecasted at 65-75 tonnes at the depths of mostly less than 200 meters. The East Bering Sea population of Alaska pollock will spread on a vast area. The West Bering Sea APO will form small concentrations at the Koryak depths' breaks.
August is one of the most favourable summer-autumn periods for grenadier fishery in the Bering Sea and in the Karaginsk subarea. Female giant grenadier Albatrossia pectoralis of 75-115 cm and 3-6 kilos will account for 70-90% of the harvest. The fishery situation on cod and halibut grounds in the same areas is forecasted as stable. Halibut fishery with longline and net gear in the Sea of Okhotsk will be a success, just like flounder fishery by small boats with longline, Danish seine and net gear. Along with the above fishing methods, the fishermen will be able to use beach seines.
The invertebrate fishery in August will continue in all the seas of the Russian Far East.