Russian fisheries in North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic on 1-7 November 2007

In the first week of November 2007 Russia's registered catch in provisional figures the North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic amounted to 14,100 metric tons, 3000 tonnes up on the result of the previous week, fishery sources in Murmansk told www.fishnet-russia.com (https://www.fishnet.ru/).

Thanks to increased fishing efforts, the dominating species in terms of catch volumes was polar cod Boreogadus saida accounting for 22% of the total harvest in all the areas. The species range also included herring of the Norwegian Sea (18%), cod and haddock of the Barents Sea (17% and 7% correspondingly) and sardine of the Central Eastern Atlantic (8%).

The rise of the total harvest by 3000 tonnes through the week could be attributed mostly to brisk Atlantic cod and polar cod fisheries in the Barents Sea as well as sardine and sardinella fishery in the Central Eastern Atlantic. At the same time, the owners reported a falling trend of herring catches in the Norwegian Sea and mackerel catches in the Central Eastern Atlantic (minus 400 and 700 tonnes correspondingly).

In the Barents Sea the bottomfish operations were continued by at least 60 vessels. The main fishing efforts on cod and haddock grounds spread approximately equally between the area of Spitsbergen and the Russian EEZ.

According to the shipowners, the fishery situation was satisfactory for the season with the harvest of cod and haddock through the week reported at ca.2400 tonnes and 1000 tonnes respectively. As compared to the previous week, the catch results grew by 800 tonnes of cod and 200 tonnes of haddock.

The fishery situation was more stable in the northwest part of the Barents Sea contributing 65% of cod and 20% of haddock to the total harvest of each of the species.

The total harvest of bottomfish species in the Barents Sea through the first week of November 2007 was estimated at 3500 tonnes, 900 tonnes up on the previous week.

Red king crab

Up to 15-17 vessels were harvesting red king crab with the fishery conditions and catch volumes remaining on a par with the previous week. The total harvest of red king crab through the week amounted to 550 tonnes.

Polar cod

In the first week of November 2007 the fishing efforts on the grounds of polar cod Boreogadus saida in the north off the New Land grew to 5-7 vessels. Better weather and fishery conditions enabled the fishermen to harvest up to 100 tonnes per day and more. The total harvest of the species increased by 2300 tonnes to more than 3000 tonnes.

Herring

In the Norwegian Sea the fleet operating on the herring grounds in the course of the week under analysis decreased to 4-5 vessels. Despite satisfactory fishery conditions, due to decreasing fishing efforts the catch through the week went down by 400 tonnes to 2600 tonnes.

Blue whiting

The blue whiting fishery was conducted by single vessels to the south of the Bear Islands. The total Russian catch of blue whiting on 1-7 November 2007 remained at 900 tonnes including the bycatch.

Central Eastern Atlantic

In the Central Eastern Atlantic a group of 5-7 vessels were targeting pelagic fish in the zones of Mauritania and Western Sahara. The total harvest through the first week of November 2007 amounted to 3100 tonnes, of which 1800 tonnes were harvested along the coast of Western Sahara (43% of sardine and 32% of sardinella) and 1300 tonnes harvested in the Mauritanian zone (46% of mackerel and 28% of sardine).

Russian catch in the North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic on 1-7 November 2007, provisional figures