Progress and outlook for fisheries in the Russian Far East in October 2008
In October 2008 the fishermen of the Russian Far East Basin are expecting a successful pollock fishery in the West Bering Sea zone, at the depths of Koryak coast and in the Karaginsk subarea, fishery sources in Vladivostok told http://www.fishnet-russia.com/ (https://www.fishnet.ru/).
In October 2008 the daily catch rates are expected at 50 tonnes per large vessel. The monthly harvest of pollock will depend on the number of the fishing efforts.
In the first half of October pollock was harvested in the area by 52 large and 18 middle trawlers with the daily catches reported at 39-72 tonnes per large ship and 13-48 per middle trawler.
The longline fishery of cod and halibuts in first half of October 2008 was continued in the West Bering Sea zone by the vessels coming from Chukotka, Koryak Autonomous Districts and Kamchatka. The bycatch of halibuts in the area amounted up to 8%. The fleet daily handled from 160 to 300 km of line. According to the scientific forecasts, the daily harvest through the month is expected at 4-7 tonnes per vessel. The harvest from trawl and Danish seine operations is forecasted at ca.3-5 tonnes per vessel daily.
According to the new regulations, the fishery of feeding Okhotsk herring is allowed as of 1 September 2008. However, the basin's fishermen did not hurry to go to the grounds. The first vessel which started the fishery was Magadan-based Mayronis reporting 100 tonnes per haul on 7 October 2008. The raw fish was of the size of 28-29 cm and weight of 295 grams. In the Ionno-Kashevarovsky area, where the fishery is expected to concentrate on a large scale, the fishermen are recommended to send vessels not earlier than mid-October 2008. According to the scientific forecasts, the strongest concentrations of herring will be formed on the grounds adjacent to the islands of Spafaryev and Zaviyalov, as well as to the southwest of the Zaviyalov Island. The total harvest of herring is forecasted at ca.20,000 tonnes subject to 10 large and 13 middle vessels targeting the species on the grounds.
In October 2008 saury will begin forming fishable concentrations in the international waters, though the bulk of these concentrations will be located in the Russian waters. The daily harvest is expected at more than 20 tonnes per vessel per day on the grounds and more than 30 tonnes per vessel per fishing day.
The fishery conditions on the squid grounds in the waters of the North Kuriles were extremely weak in the first ten days of October 2008. The storms made the fleet's operations even more complicated. The vessels moved to the Petropavlovsk-Komandor subarea to harvest the species there. Some of Primorye-based vessels owned by NBAMR plc moved to the herring grounds in the Sea of Okhotsk.
In the first ten days of the month a fleet of nine Kamchatka-based vessels continued targeting blue king crab in the Bering Sea. In the Sea of Okhotsk crabbers were hunting for snow crab opilio (15 ships), red king crab in the inshore waters (14 ships), golden king crab and snow crab bairdi (8 ships). All in all there were 50 vessels targeting crabs in the Sea of Okhotsk. Along with crabs, the basin's fishermen were harvesting whelks and shrimp in the area.