Overview of Russian fisheries in North and Central Atlantic in December 2011

According to estimated figures, in December 2011 the Russian harvest in the Atlantic Ocean declined by 28,700 MT in November 2011 to 41,600 MT. The contribution of Kaliningrad-based vessels amounted to less than 14%, reports www.megafishnet.com.

Bottom trawl operations in the Barents Sea were conducted by up to 56 trawlers (54 of which came from Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin and two vessels from Kaliningrad) and 30 small inshore boats based in Murmansk. The fishing scene continued shifting from Spitsbergen to the EEZs of Russia and Norway, but the biggest catches, just like in November 2011, were contributed by Spitsbergen (48%). There in the month under analysis the Russian fishermen harvested 12,900 MT (-6,100 MT), including 7,700 MT of cod (-6,300 MT) and 4,900 MT of haddock (+200 MT). The Russian EEZ contributed 9,200 MT (+1,200 MT) or 34% to the total bottomfish harvest, the above figure included 5,600 MT of cod (+400 MT) and 3,200 MT of haddock (-600 MT). The Norwegian EEZ where the Russian fleet practically did not operate in December 2011, contributed 4,600 MT of bottomfish, including 3,500 MT of cod (+3,200 MT) and 1,000 MT of haddock (+800 MT).

Before the start of the closing ten days of December 2011 the flounder fishery in the Russian EEZ was conducted by nine vessels (4 middle vessels and 5 small boats) coming from Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin. Their harvest amounted to 200 MT (-300 MT) of fish, including 84% of flounder.

Longline bottomfish operations in the Barents Sea in the course of the month were conducted by 4 Murmansk-based vessels. The fishermen were working mostly in the Grey Zone, in the Russian EEZ and at a lesser extent in the waters of Spitsbergen. The fishery efficiency in all the subareas was approximately at the same level of 10-11 MT per day. On 21 December 2011 all the longliners stopped fishing.

The Russian quotas for cod and haddock 2011 have been completely exhausted.

During the first three days of the month under analysis the halibut fishery in the Barents Sea was conducted by one Murmansk-based trawler. Her daily catch amounted to 23 MT. The halibut quota has been harvested completely.

In December 2011 the herring fishery in the Norwegian Sea was conducted only by RTMKS Kapitan Gorbachev owned by OAO Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet (plc). In the first ten days of the month the fishery situation was unstable, catches fluctuated from 9 to 130 MT per day, later in December the vessel's catch rates dropped to 100-120 MT. On 23 December 2011, due to quota exhaustion, the trawler stopped herring fishery with the total result for December 2011 amounting to 1,600 MT (-9,900 MT) of herring. The total catch from the beginning of the year amounted to 144,100 MT of herring (98.5% of the Russian quota 146,300 MT). In the year 2010 the harvest amounted to 77,600 MT.

Up to 20 December 2011 two trawlers based in Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin were targeting halibut in the waters of West Greenland. The fishery efficiency amounted to ca.7 MT per day. The fishery was closed due to quota exhaustion.

In the Northwest Atlantic in the NAFO waters one Murmansk-based trawler New Land was hunting for halibut (average daily catch of 4 MT) sometimes switching to ocean perch fishery (average daily catch of 24 MT).

Pelagic fisheries in the Moroccan EEZ were conducted by 6 Russian trawlers (2 from Murmansk, 2 from Kaliningrad and 2 from Saint Petersburg). Main fishing grounds were located in between the 2110-2245 degrees North. In the closing five days of December 2011 one of the trawlers moved to the north of the Moroccan EEZ, namely to the 26th degree North. On 12 December 2011 Murmansk-based vessels had to cease fishery due to 100% quota take-up. The fishery situation could be characterized as generally satisfactory. The average daily catch of Kaliningrad-based BATM trawlers amounted to ca.50 MT. In December 2011 the total Russian harvest of pelagic fish amounted to 6,600 MT (-10,600 MT), including 2,800 MT of mackerel, 2,700 MT of horse mackerel, 1,000 MT of sardine and 100 MT of sardinella. Contribution of Kaliningrad-based vessels amounted to ca.73%. Russian catches in the Moroccan EEZ amounted to 91,700 MT for 12 months of 2011 (for comparison, 98,100 MT in 2010).

In December 2011 three more vessels based in Murmansk joined the Russian trawler Admiral Starikov on the grounds of Senegal. In the first twenty days of the month the fishermen were working mostly in the north of the area, namely on the shelf between 1405-1558 degrees North. In the closing ten days of the month the fishing scene shifted to the shelf area to the south of the Gambian border between 1240-1300 degrees North. The fishery situation was non-stable. Daily catches per ship amounted to less than 60 MT on the average. The total harvest through December 2011 amounted to 3,400 MT, including 1,800 MT of horse mackerel, 800 MT of sardinella, 500 MT of mackerel and 100 MT of sardine. The harvest in the waters of Senegal for 12 months of 2011 amounted to 63,300 MT (10,800 MT in 2010).

In the waters of Namibia the horse mackerel fishery in December 2011 was conducted by Kapitan Veselkov trawler owned by OAO Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet. The fishery situation was satisfactory; catches were limited by the vessel's technical capacities and amounted to 53 MT per day. The trawler's total catch amounted to 1,400 through December 2011 and 2,700 MT for the whole year 2011.

In the first ten days of December 2011 Chio Maru No.3 based in the Russian Far East was targeting toothfish in the Ross Sea. The fishery situation was satisfactory with the daily catch rates amounting to ca.2 MT.

Russian harvest of main commercial species in North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic in January-December 2011