Overview of fisheries in the Russian Far East in May 2009
May 2009 has been marked by a temporary halt of activity before the start of the salmon season 2009 and resumption of the pollock fishery in the Bering Sea, reports www.fishnet-russia.com (https://www.fishnet.ru/) with reference to NCMC and fishery sources in Vladivostok.
The daily harvest during this period has been based on such abundant species as pollock and roe herring of the Sea of Okhotsk. The dedicated pollock fishery in the Bering Sea has been allowed only from 16 May 2009 according to the fishery regulations. The herring fishery with fixed fishing gear has not turned as fruitful as expected. As a result, the daily catch rates have rarely exceeded 3000 tonnes. The Basin's total harvest through the month has decreased by 2200 tonnes to 83,000 tonnes as compared to the previous year.
By the end of May 2009 the number of vessels participating in the fishery has increased thanks to small boats engaged in inshore fishery of bottomfish for human consumption. At the same time, the fishermen have been in no hurry to start the pollock fishery. Only 14 large and 7 middle vessels have participated in the fishery.
Provisional catches in the Russian Far East Basin in May and in January-May 2009
Species | May | January-May | ||||
2009, 1000 metric tons | 2008, 1000 metric tons | 2009 versus 2008, +/- 1000 metric tons | 2009, 1000 metric tons | 2008, 1000 metric tons | 2009 versus 2008, +/- 1000 metric tons | |
Total | 83.0 | 85.2 | -2.2 | 930.6 | 898.8 | +31.8 |
Atka mackerel | 6.7 | 6.0 | 0.7 | 18.4 | 22.4 | -4.0 |
Cod | 4.4 | 4.6 | -0.2 | 18.7 | 24.2 | -5.5 |
Crabs | 4.8 | 5.1 | -0.3 | 10.8 | 12.2 | -1.4 |
Flounder | 10.0 | 10.8 | -0.8 | 30.8 | 21.1 | +9.7 |
Grenadier | 2.0 | 3.5 | -1.5 | 4.4 | 6.4 | -2.0 |
Halibut | 1.1 | 1.7 | -0.6 | 4.2 | 5.6 | -1.4 |
Herring | 2.9 | 5.0 | -2.1 | 51.2 | 55.8 | -4.6 |
Longfin codling Laemonema | 3.0 | 3.2 | -0.2 | 5.5 | 7.1 | -1.6 |
Ocean perch | 0.05 | 0.05 | 0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0 |
Pollock | 38.5 | 32.4 | +6.1 | 755.7 | 709.2 | +46.5 |
Salmons | 0.9 | 1.5 | -0.6 | 0.9 | 1.5 | -0.6 |
Sculpins | 0.5 | 0.6 | -0.1 | 1.9 | 1.8 | +0.1 |
Sea cucumber | 0.3 | 0.2 | +0.1 | 0.7 | 0.4 | +0.3 |
Sea urchins | 0.4 | 0.6 | -0.2 | 3.3 | 2.6 | +0.7 |
Shrimps | 0.4 | 0.3 | +0.1 | 4.6 | 5.0 | -0.4 |
Squid | 2.9 | 6.0 | -3.1 | 3.4 | 7.1 | -3.7 |
Wachna cod | 2.7 | 1.5 | +1.2 | 12.5 | 11.9 | +0.6 |
Whelks | 0.7 | 0.4 | +0.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | +0.4 |
Just like last year the daily catch rates in the Basin in the first 20 days of the month were ahead of the respective results of the same period last year. However, the vessels' slow entering the pollock grounds in the West Bering Sea zone, unfavourable conditions for fixed seine operations on the roe herring grounds, lack of stability on the squid grounds in the North Kurile waters have told on the results of the fishing fleet's operations in May 2009. As compared to last year the monthly harvest in the Basin has gone down by 2200 tonnes. Nevertheless, the pollock fishery in the North Kurile waters and in the southeast of Kamchatka, continuing pollock fishery in the East Sakhalin subarea, as well as considerable bycatch on the inshore bottomfish grounds have resulted into a rise of pollock catches by 6000 tonnes on last year. The concentrations of wachna cod at the western shores of Kamchatka let the fishermen harvest the species in the volume of up to 80% of the daily catch of middle and small trawlers. As a result, the wachna cod harvest has appeared to be higher than last year. The vessels have boosted operations on the whelks grounds in the Sea of Okhotsk, the efforts growing twice on the corresponding result of last year. The whelks harvest in May has increased 1.7 times.
Insignificant increases have been observed for the shrimp and sea cucumber catches. As for the other species, the catch rates have been showing negative dynamics.
In the first five months of the year the Basin's fleet, mostly at the expense of two species (pollock and flounder), the harvest of aquatic biological resources has exceeded the last year result by 32,000 tonnes. The fishing stocks of flounder have enabled the fishermen to outdo the catch results for the species nearly by 10,000 tonnes. Thanks to higher catches of pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk, the pollock harvest in January-May 2009 has increased by 46,000 tonnes.