Results of Russian fisheries in North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic in first week of October 2007

Russian harvest in the North Atlantic and in the Central Eastern Atlantic in autumn period has remained comparably stable. In the first week of October 2007 the nation's registered harvest in the above areas exceeded 18,000 tonnes. The bulk of catches was contributed by herring of the Norwegian Sea accounting for 67% of the species range, cod and haddock of the Barents Sea (8% and 5% correspondingly) and sardinella in the Central Eastern Atlantic (8%). Red king crab catches amounted to 450 tonnes through the week. One trawler started spotting for polar cod Boreogadus saida in the Barents Sea. The fishery of ocean perch Sebastes mentella in the international waters of the Norwegian Sea was not conducted in October. Changes of the species range and catch volumes as compared to the first week of September are shown in the table.

In the Barents Sea about 65 vessels were targeting bottomfish species. Unlike September 2007, the main fishing efforts (75% namely) on the grounds of cod and haddock were concentrated in the sea's southeast within the Russian waters. According to the shipowners, the fishery conditions were fairly satisfactory for operations on dispersed concentrations typical for the autumn period of the year. As a result, the total harvest of bottomfish species from 1 to 8 October exceeded 2700 tonnes. More specifically, the fleets harvested 1400 tonnes of cod and 900 tonnes of haddock. The Russian EEZ contributed more than 70% to the above mentioned cod harvest and 90% to the haddock catch.

The sea scallop fishery along the southeast coast of Murman was continued by the only dedicated scalloper Kovda owned by ZAO Barentsmoreproduct (closed JSC) harvesting 180 tonnes of scallops through the week under analysis.

The trap fishery on the grounds of red king crab in the Russian zone was conducted by up to 13 vessels. According to the operators, the fishery conditions were not satisfactory, though the catch rates fluctuated on a wider scale from 1 to 10 tonnes per day (5-6 tonnes on the average). The group's daily harvest was estimated at 80 tonnes. The total harvest of red king crab through the week amounted to 440 tonnes contributing to the harvest of more than 2000 tonnes since the start of the season. In the end of the week one of the trawlers coming from Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin started spotting for concentrations of polar cod Boreogadus saida at the northern border of the New Land Islands.

In the Norwegian Sea a large group of vessels continued active fishery of herring in the Norwegian EEZ. The fishery conditions in the northwest part of the zone remained fairly good and the total harvest through the week did not exceed 12,000 tonnes, of which 60% were contributed by the vessels of the West Fisheries Basin. Landings of herring since the start of the year are estimated at more than 120,000 tonnes with the share of Kaliningrad-based vessels amounting to 35%. Blue whiting was harvested mostly as bycatch with the total harvest of the species estimated at 600 tonnes.

In the Northwest Atlantic separate trawlers coming from the Russian North Basin conducted deepsea fishery on the Greenland halibut grounds. Two vessels were operating in the western sector of the Greenland zone and one was working on the slopes on the Newfoundland Bank. The catch rates reached 10 metric tons per day. In the Central Eastern Atlantic a small group of 3 vessels from Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin was targeting pelagic species. The total harvest in the Moroccan zone amounted to 1800 tonnes through the week. The catch range included 80% of sardinella.

Russian catches in the North Atlantic and in the Central Eastern Atlantic from 1 to 8 October 2007