July 14, 2008 - MOSCOW. July 14 (Interfax) - Russia has increased its catch of fish and other seafood products 3.6%, or by 59,000 tonnes, to 1.636 million tonnes since the start of 2008, the State Fisheries Committee said.

In the Far Eastern seas and the Bering Sea, the fish catch is down by 83,000 tonnes to 179,000 tonnes so far this year. In the northern and southern Kuril Islands, the catch is up by 20,000 tonnes to 76,000 tonnes.

The catch of cod and Peter's fish in the Barents Sea and the White Sea is up by 40,000 tonnes to 179,000 tonnes since the start of 2008.

In the Baltic Sea, the catch is down by 2,100 tonnes to 22,600 tonnes. The catch of the Baltic sprat in the region fell by 2,200 tonnes to 13,000 tonnes compared to 2007.

The sardelle catch in the Azov and Black seas is down by 2,000 tonnes to 4,900 tonnes, while the sprat catch is up by 900 tonnes to 4,100 tonnes. The mugil catch shrank 2.5 times to 1,000 tonnes from 2,600 tones in the same period last year.

The sprat catch in the Caspian Sea is down by 4,500 tonnes to 5,500 tonnes due to poor fishing conditions.

Russian fishermen have caught 205,000 tonnes of fish in other countries' zones this year, down by 30,000 tonnes from the same period of 2007, and 137,000 tonnes in regions governed by convention and on high open seas, down by 12,000 tonnes from a year ago.

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