Big boost for saury recommended catch in Russian Pacific waters

The recommended catch for saury fishery in South Kurile Zone in the Russian Far East has been given a big boost, reports http://www.megafishnet.com/ with reference to TINRO-Centre fishery research institute.

More specifically, the scientific advice provides for a recommended harvest of 180 000 tonnes. This is a triple increase on the actual harvest of 62 000 tonnes in 2011. The figure also exceeds 1.5 times the record saury catch of 110 000 tonnes in 2007.

The Russian saury season is starting in mid-August to wind up in mid-December. As compared to last year, it will see less stable fishing concentration lasting for some 3 days on the average while average and large fish sizes will comprise a large proportion.

The Russian market needs about 100 000 to 120 000 tonnes of saury mostly for canning and it is not clear how much the Russian boats will be able to harvest. Whatever the shortage of domestic supply, it will normally be covered by imports from Japan rising up to 50 000 tonnes in 2010 but declining steeply at least in the first half of 2011.

The catch rates are expected to amount to 5-10 tonnes per ship fishing day in August, to 15-25 tonnes in September and a further increase in October-November.

In 2008-2010 the world saury catch (Taiwan, South Korea, Japan and Russia) had been declining to register a rise up to 400 k tonnes in 2011 while Russia also nearly doubled its catch.