Outlook for fisheries in the Russian Far East in June 2009

In June 2009 the dedicated trawl fishery of pollock will continue in the Bering Sea and in the East Kamchatka zone, reports www.fishnet-russia.com (https://www.fishnet.ru/) with reference to NCMC and fishery sources in Vladivostok.

The dedicated pollock fishery will be based on a small local concentration of roe pollock and pollock migrating from the eastern part of the sea as the waters get warmer. In the inshore zone of the fishing area small and middle Danish seine fleet can conduct efficient pollock fishery, with the bycatch forecasted to contain up to 50% of cod. In June the activity of the Danish seine operations in the Anadyr-Navarin area is traditionally high. On the mixed grounds of bottomfish the catches will be dominated by flounder. The longliners will continue the cod and halibut fishery, while the crabbers will be targeting blue king crab, snow crab opilio and snow crab bairdi.

The commercial salmon fishery has got started with sockeye running to the spawning grounds. In the recent years in the West Bering Sea zone sockeye have begun running to the spawning grounds somewhat earlier. The harvest of the species by the end of June is forecasted to account for one half of the total runs through the season.

In the Sea of Okhotsk the fishermen will finish harvesting roe herring. The fishermen will also harvest cod, halibuts, flounder, sculpins, grenadier, crabs, shrimp and whelks.

The fishable concentrations of squid in the North Kuriles will enable the fishermen to work more efficiently in June 2009.

As for the other areas, the fishing operations in June will not differ from the previous month, except for the number of the fishing efforts and fishing gear.