Outlook for fishery in the Russian Far East in October 2006
In October 2006 the Russian fishermen will continue harvesting Alaska pollock in the Bering Sea, saury in the waters of the South Kuriles and in the international waters, squid in the Kurile waters and in the Bering Sea. Along with the above, the fleets will start harvesting herring in the Sea of Okhotsk.
The fishery situation on the Alaska pollock grounds in the Bering Sea will be stable with a potential improvement in the Anadyr Bay at the depths of 60-80 meters. Daily catches are expected at 25-30 and 60-75 tonnes per ship depending on the vessel type. Longliners’ operation on the grounds of halibuts, cod and grenadier will be complicated by weather conditions typical for the season.
Satisfactory fishing situation will be observed on the cod grounds in all the bays of East Kamchatka. Up to 10 longliners will operate in the shelf of the Commander Islands with the average daily catches expected at 2-5 tonnes.
In October saury catches are expected to be higher than in the previous months and are forecasted to exceed 30 tonnes per ship and 10 tonnes per trap. Strong concentrations of saury will be observed to the southeast of the Freeze Strait and probably in the inshore zone of the Iturup Island. As of the second half of the month fishable concentrations will start forming in the international waters off Oyasio. Large size saury will dominate in fishing concentrations in the Japanese zone where the Russian fleets can operate under the intergovernmental agreements.
Squid grounds will remain the same and in the first half of October the strength of concentrations will probably grow. In general the fishery situation on squid grounds will be satisfactory. For comparison squid daily catches per ship amounted to 13.1 tonnes in 2001, 14.1 tonnes in 2002, 11.2 tonnes in 2003, 15.3 tonnes in 2004 and 15.4 tonnes in 2005 for large ships. Catches per tow in October 2006 are expected at 2.5-3.5 tonnes.
In October current scientists recommend to send the maximum possible number of seiners to the grounds of Okhotsk herring with the rates per ship forecasted at 70 metric tons per shot. Trawlers are not expected to harvest more than 11 and 20 tonnes correspondingly for middle and large ships. The most active fishery will be conducted in the Priutaysk and Iono-Kashevarovsky area, where the size of harvested fish is forecasted at 150-290 grams and 26-30 cm. According to the scientists, the total herring harvest in October will not exceed 20,000 tonnes. Strong concentrations will be formed on the grounds adjacent to the islands of Spafarjev and Zavjyalov.
More efficient trawl fishery is expected on the grounds of the Gizhigino-Kamchatskaya herring with the daily rates forecasted at 30-45 tonnes for middle trawlers and 45-75 tonnes for large trawlers. Purse seiners may harvest 35-40 tonnes per tow. Gizhigino-Kamchatskaya herring will be somewhat larger than Okhotsk herring as its weight will reach 340 grams. In the previous years stronger fishing concentrations would be observed on the Lebed Mount from the end of October till December.