Russia’s pelagic catch saw mixed results this year as catches of a number of species belied expected trends.
In particular, the country’s catch of sardines fell far short of expectations. Russia resumed harvesting sardines in 2018, after a break of 25 years. The record year for sardine was 1990, when Soviet fisheries caught 484,400 MT. In 2020, a post-Soviet record of 315,500 metric tons (MT) of the species was caught. The recommended catch for 2021 is 488,500 MT, with 23,500 MT of this volume to be caught in the exclusive economic zone of Japan, and the rest near Russia’s Kuril Islands.
With the higher quota, the prospects for 2021 were strong, but actual catches of the species fell far short of expectations. According to data from the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries, through 8 November, only 198,000 MT of sardine was harvested – 29 percent less than the same period in 2020, when the country had already caught over 280,000 MT.
The reason for the low totals could be attributable to a number of factors. One of them is current wholesale prices for the species: prices dropped from RUB 65 (USD 0.89, EUR 0.77) in 2020 to RUB 45 (USD 0.61, EUR 0.53) by the middle of 2021, according to data from the All-Russian Association of Fishing Industry (VARPE). The decline in price could mean companies are less interested in catching the species.
Simultaneously, the number of fishing vessels targeting pelagic species has dropped. Only 21 vessels were fishing pelagic vessels in early November, according to the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries, a significant drop compared to the same time in 2020, when 43 vessels were targeting the species.
While sardine totals are down, catches of other pelagic species have been more positive. The mackerel catch hit nearly 58,000 MT by early November, compared to 32,210 MT caught by the same time last year. The harvest of saury is also up, with 577 MT caught in 2021 compared to 504 MT in the same period in 2020.
Overall, the three species combined represents a pelagic catch of 256,000 MT as of 8 November, compared to 313,220 MT caught last year.
Russia’s National Fishery Development Strategy envisages the country's annual catch of pelagic species will increase to 650,000 MT through 2030, a forecast it said still looks feasible despite this year's drop-off in results.
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