Kamchatka Legislature issues strong call for ban on driftnet salmon fishery

Kamchatka law makers say that the fishing industry brings more than 60% of the budget revenues and in this situation the driftnet fishing causes economic damage to the State, results in the destruction of the wild salmon population, bankruptcy of fishing enterprises, people's impoverishment as well as closure of coastal villages.

There are two kinds of driftnet fishing carried out in Russia's EEZ - commercial (Japanese fishery) and scientific (Russian fishery). The catch volumes of Russia and Japan are increasing annually, the deputies underline.

The Speaker of Kamchatsky Kray Territory's Parliament Boris Nevzorov says that in 2008 the quota of the most valuable salmon species - sockeye salmon - has been doubled for Russian driftnet vessels, what is three times more than the TAC set for fishery in the basin of the largest spawning river Kamchatka.

Moreover, the Russian and Japanese driftnet vessels catch only sockeye salmon, the other species are just discarded.