Results of Russian fisheries in the North Atlantic in April 2007

Russia's catches through April 2007 considerably decreased by 4500 tonnes as compared to March 2007. The decrease could be attributed mainly to the Barents Sea Basin where cod catches dropped by more than 2000 tonnes, haddock - by more than 3000 tonnes. The main reason behind the catch lag was that the bulk of large mature fish spread to the inshore waters in the Norwegian EEZ and was out of access for Russian fleets. Only landings of saithe were on a rise in April after cancellation of restrictions concerning bycatches of saithe (as of 1 April 2007 Russian fleets were allowed to apply for permits for direct saithe fishery in the Norwegian EEZ in the amount of up to 5000 tonnes. As a result, the harvest of saithe in the Norwegian waters exceeded 4000 tonnes through the month, 2100 tonnes up on the previous month. In April 2007 more than 75% of cod and haddock and 100% of saithe were harvested in the Norwegian EEZ.

The blue whiting fishery was conducted in the international waters in the Rockall Bank and in the south part of the Faroese fishing zone with a gradual move of the fishing efforts to the zone of the Faroe Islands. According to provisional figures, total catch of blue whiting was on a par with the previous month at 48,000 tonnes (plus 400 tonnes on March 2007), but the bulk of catches (ca.70%) was contributed already beyond the Faroe waters. One of Murmansk-based trawlers had a success on the grounds of small haddock in the Rockall Bank with the ship's total harvest through the month reported at ca.400 tonnes.

In the Irminger Sea the fleets started harvesting ocean perch Sebastes mentella as of early April. In the first half of April fishery conditions were still unsatisfactory and the bulk of the fleet reported catch failure. By the end of the month on the traditional grounds along the border of the 200-mile zone of Iceland ocean perch Sebastes mentella began forming concentrations fit for fishery. The situation on the grounds grew stabilized. According to provisional figures, total landings of ocean perch through April were reported at ca.1500 tonnes. In the Northwest Atlantic on the deepsea grounds of the Flemish Cap and the Newfoundland Bank two or three trawlers were targeting Greenland halibut (catch 400 tonnes) with the bycatch of 100 tonnes of roughhead grenadier and 100 tonnes of dab. Periodically one of the trawlers switched to shrimps (100 tonnes). The total harvest in the area did not reach 1000 tonnes.

In the Central East Atlantic a small group of vessels harvested pelagic species in the waters of the Western Sahara and Mauritania with the total harvest exceeding 12,000 tonnes. Two Kaliningrad-based tuna boats were operating in the equatorial subarea and reported a total catch of 300 tonnes through the month. The bulk of catches of large ships was contributed by sardine and mackerel.

Harvest of Russian vessels in the North Atlantic in April 2007