The Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries (Rosrybolovstvo) is finalizing the distribution of total allowable catch (TAC) in 2023 for its fisheries, with slightly lower catch limits set compared to 2022.
The overall TAC across all species in 2023 is 3.2 million metric tons (MT), a 3 percent drop compared to 2022, with all key species seeing lower catch volumes.
The biggest decline in TAC is in Russia’s Far East, where almost 75 percent of the country’s catch by volume is landed. The total harvests there will be 3.061 million MT, 3 percent lower than 2022.
Several major species saw declines in allowable catch. The TAC for pollock is just under 2.06 million MT, a slight decrease. The original TAC was set at 1.996 million MT, but a mid-year increase bumped that total up to 2.08 million MT.
Cod received a TAC of 175,800 MT, down 6 percent; herring received 370,860 MT, a decrease of 8 percent; navaga received 53,300 MT, a decline of 5 percent; Pacific plaice received 75,990 MT, a decline of 13 percent; rock trout received 28,790 MT, a drop of 15 percent; and Northern shrimp received a TAC of 9,328 MT, or 12.5 percent lower.
Some key species saw increases in their TAC. Grouper increased 82.4 percent to 6,906 MT; king crab increased by 8 percent, or 16,087 MT; and tanner crab increased by 38 percent, or 4,400 MT.
Russia's pollock TAC has come under increased scrutiny from the seafood industry. In October, TINRO, the Pacific branch of the Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), proposed a special conference to study pollock stocks in Russian waters and how the country should regulate the species. The initiative was supported by several fishing organizations.
“There are certain changes to pollock’s stocks that will have an impact on the TAC," Sakhalin Region Fishery Association President Maxim Kozlov told Fishnews. "We need to understand what the future holds for the stocks so that companies can plan their work.”
Russia's pollock industry is also facing the potential expansion of the investment-quota program. Pollock Catchers Association President Alexey Buglak told Fishnews the widening of the program could create instability in the sector. For the last few years, he said, companies enjoyed an abundance of pollock and herring, but Buglak said any future decline in stocks could make quota expansion for pollock unsustainable.
Russia's initial investment-quota program resulted in plans to construct up to 15 supertrawlers each capable of harvesting 800,000 MT a year, or 35 percent of the current TAC for pollock and herring. Any further increase in fishing capacity could result in overfishing, Buglak said.
“That’s a very serious problem no one is now talking about,” Buglak said.
Photo courtesy of the Russian Pollock Catchers Association
