The Russian Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) has walked back an earlier plan to increase the country’s pollock quota in the Western Bering Sea.
Rosrybolovstvo announced on its website that the country has decided to set the total allowable catch (TAC) of pollock in the Bering Sea at 700,000 metric tons (MT). That total is in line with scientific advice from the All-Russian Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO).
The announcement does not mention that Rosrybolovstvo was advocating for a TAC of 775,000 MT in October – an increase from 2024 and against the advice of VNIRO scientists.
"In 2024, expeditions were conducted to assess the state of the stocks. The studies showed a stable biomass value, and the optimal fishing load was determined. We will adhere to the recommendations of industry science," Rosrybolovstvo Head Ilya Shestakov said in a release.
According to Rosrybolovstvo, officials made the decision at a meeting of the Far Eastern Basin Scientific and Fishing Council in Vladivostok, which “considered issues of stock assessment and distribution of total allowable catches” in the Far East.
Russia was initially considering a Far East pollock fishing quota of 2.46 million MT in 2025, an increase of 7 percent year over year and above the scientific advice of VNIRO, which suggested a TAC of 2.26 million MT for 2025. The new total, taking into account the Bering Sea reduction, would be 2.385 million MT.
The decisions come as the pollock fishing industry in Russia pushes back against media criticism of how the country handles its pollock fishing arrangements.
All-Russian Association of Fishing Industry (VARPE) President German Zverev published a column in Prime responding to media outlets that he said were writing that pollock catch quotas between the U.S. and Russia are distributed unfairly – with the U.S. taking more than its fair share in the Bering Sea.
Zverev said the truth is “somewhere in the middle” and that the country’s fishing of the pollock stock in the Bering Sea is robust and not the only area it catches pollock.
“Russia catches pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Sea of Japan, and the Chukchi Sea. In total, last year, fishermen caught 1.93 million tons of pollock – we are the world's leading producer of this fish,” Zverev wrote.
Even then, Zverev said the pollock industry is more focused on positive economic outcomes for the seafood industry rather than sheer volume of catch.
“Victory in economic competition is more important than the race for catch figures. What is the point of overfulfilling the ‘volume plan’ if it will result in economic collapse?” Zverev said. “Under the current conditions and the existing volume of catch on the world fish market, it is very doubtful to assume that Russia is short of something somewhere.”
Zverev said any media reporting that there are shortages of pollock for the domestic market are “wrong or dishonest” given the industry’s catch volumes.
As Russia’s fishing industry defends its catch, Rosrybolovstvo has officially updated its requirements on accessing fishing quotas covered under international agreements. Rosrybolovstvo said it has approved a list of aquatic biological resources for which fishing quotas are established in areas covered by international treaties.
“The aquatic bioresources included in the list will be harvested under previously concluded 15-year agreements on the distribution of quota shares,” Rosrybolovstvo said. “The list includes blue whiting, cod, haddock, and capelin – a total of 42 species of fish harvested in areas covered by intergovernmental agreements, as well as in zones regulated by international organizations.”
