Overview of Russian fishery in North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic in March 2011

In March 2011 fishing operations in North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic were marked by mixed trends, reports http://www.megafishnet.com/.

According to provisional figures, Russia's harvest in March 2011 amounted to 107,100 tonnes, 10,400 tonnes down on February 2011. The contribution of Kaliningrad-based vessels slightly increased to 20%. The main reason behind the decline of the total catch was a gradual suspension of capelin operations.

Trawl bottomfish operations in the Barents Sea were conducted by up to 84 vessels (plus small inshore boats), of which 83 came from Murmansk and one trawler from Kaliningrad. The Norwegian EEZ retained its leadership with the Russian harvest of bottomfish species in the area amounting to as much as 65%. In absolute figures the total catch in the area remained on a par with the previous month at 29,700 tonnes (+200 tonnes), though the ratio of cod and haddock in catches changed. More specifically, the cod harvest declined by 6400 tonnes to 15,900 tonnes, while the haddock catch grew by 6000 tonnes to 12,200 tonnes. The harvest in the Russian EEZ grew by 5000 tonnes to 13,000 tonnes (28%), including 8300 tonnes of cod (+2500 tonnes) and 4200 tonnes of haddock (+2300 tonnes). At the same time, the importance of Spitsbergen waters declined with the area's Match harvest amounting to 3200 tonnes (-2200 tonnes), cod and haddock catches were also equal at 1500 tonnes and 1400 tonnes correspondingly.

The bottomfish longline operations (cod and sea cats) in the Barents Sea were conducted by 9 ships coming from Murmansk and one ship from Kaliningrad. They mostly operated in the Grey zone, at a lesser extent in the Norwegian EEZ and in the open part of the sea, single catches were reported from the Russian EEZ and Spitsbergen. The average daily catches per ship for all the fishing areas in March 2011 were slightly below the respective result of the previous month, 11 tonnes.

The Russian quota remainder from the beginning of the year 2011 amounted to ca.72% for cod and 69% for haddock.

The capelin fishery was conducted by 31 trawlers (24 ships from Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin and 7 ships from Kaliningrad-led West Fisheries Basin). The fleet was gradually moving from the Russian EEZ to the Norwegian waters, from the middle of the month the fishery was conducted only in the Norwegian EEZ. In the closing ten days of March 2011 the fishery situation grew much worse, catches of large trawlers declined from 60-70 tonnes per day in the beginning of the month to 10-20 tonnes per day in late March 2011. On 27 March 2011 the capelin fishery was closed. The capelin catch in March 2011 amounted to 28,800 tonnes (-22,400 tonnes). According to provisional figures, the total harvest since the start of the year amounted to 86,700 tonnes of capelin (82.6% of the Russian quota). In 2010 the total catch through the same period amounted to 75,300 tonnes.

On 1 March 2011 the blue whiting fishery took off in the waters of the Rockall Bank beyond the economic zones of the European countries. The first trawler to start the fishery was Murmansk-based Kapitan Gorbachev and through March 2011 the number of fishing vessels grew to 17 (8 from Murmansk and 9 from Kaliningrad). In the first half of the month the fishery situation was good. From the middle of the month catches began declining and the fleet followed the blue whiting schools northeastwards along the western slope of the Rockall Bank. The average fishery efficiency as compared to March 2010 decreased from 71 to 81 tonnes. The total harvest from the beginning of the year amounted to 15,000 tonnes of blue whiting (33.4% of the Russian quota). Through the same period of 2010 the harvest amounted to 21,200 tonnes.

In the Northwest Atlantic in the NAFO zone three trawlers of Murmansk-led North Fisheries Basin were targeting ocean perch, halibut and cod. The catch rates amounted to 22.2 tonnes of blue whiting, halibut - 4.8 tonnes and cod - 35.4 tonnes per day.

In March 2011 pelagic fisheries in the Mauritanian EEZ were conducted by 2 trawlers coming from Kaliningrad and in the closing ten days of the month one of them moved to Senegal waters. The situation in the month under analysis was unstable, the catch rates of BATM large trawlers changed from 30 to 80 tonnes, 44 tonnes on the average. The total harvest in March 2011 amounted to 1900 tonnes (-400 tonnes). from the beginning of the year the Russian catch in the Mauritanian waters amounted to 7800 tonnes (in 2010 the harvest from the beginning of the year amounted to 34,700 tonnes).

In the waters of Senegal eight large Russian trawlers were operating (five from Murmansk, one from Kaliningrad and two from Saint Petersburg). The fishery situation in March 2011 was satisfactory in general with short improvements and slumps. Daily catches of RTMKSm trawlers fluctuated widely from 40 to 150 tonnes, 83 tonnes on the average. The total harvest in March 2011 amounted to 11,900 tonnes (-3200 tonnes), including 8000 tonnes of horse mackerel, 1800 tonnes of mackerel and 900 tonnes of sardinella. From the beginning of the year the catch amounted to 37,900 tonnes (in 2010 the catch from the start of the year amounted to 5100 tonnes).

On 5 March 2011 one Murmansk-based trawler began fishing operations in the Namibian waters. The harvest through the period under analysis amounted to 600 tonnes, of which horse mackerel contributed nearly 100%.

Russian harvest of main commercial species in the North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic as per 31 March 2011