Scientists giving advice for crab TAC correction in the Russian Far East

The Board of Directors of Russia’s fishery research institutes meeting in late March has proposed a number of different corrections to the crab TACs in the Russian Far East 2021 depending on the species, reports Megafishnet.com.

Red king crab

According to the Federal Agency for Fisheries, the stock surveys in 2020 showed a decrease in the population of the red king crab on the West Kamchatka shelf, which is accompanied by a redistribution of its stock between fishing areas: a decrease in the share in the Kamchatka-Kuril subzone and an increase in the West Kamchatka subzone.

Taking into account the new data, in 2021 it is recommended to increase the red king crab TAC by 479 MT to 12362 metric tons in the West Kamchatka subzone; and to reduce it by 1510 MT to 2012 metric tons in the Kamchatka-Kuril subzone.

Crab bairdi

The situation is different with the population of the snow crab bairdi in the Kamchatka-Kuril subzone, where the surveys in 2020 showed an increase in the stock due to the emergence of a strong class. Accordingly, the scientists recommend resuming the bairdi crab fishery in the Kamchatka-Kuril subzone, which was closed in 2019 due to the population’s decline. For 2021 it is recommended to increase the total allowable catch of the bairdi crab in the Kamchatka-Kuril subzone by 480 MT, from the currently approved 20 tons, which had been provided exclusively for scientific research, to 500 metric tons.