Results of Russian fisheries in the North Atlantic in May 2007

In May 2007 the total Russian harvest in the waters of the North Atlantic grew by 1600 tonnes as compared to April 2007. In the Barents Sea basin the harvest of cod and haddock considerably increased by more than 9500 tonnes and 2300 tonnes correspondingly, which can be attributed to abundant migration of spent fish beyond the territorial waters of Norway with the subsequent move beyond the Norwegian EEZ. According to the fleet's relocation, the bulk of the cod harvest in May was contributed by the waters of Spitsbergen (60%), haddock - by the Russian waters and in the Grey zone (60%).

Saithe

At the same time, landings of saithe dropped by 2700 tonnes because practically all saithe was spread inside the Norwegian EEZ. Activation of the saithe fishery in April and May let the fishermen hit the catch record with the total harvest of the species since the start of the year exceeding 11,000 tonnes.

According to provisional figures, in May the total harvest of bottomfish in the Barents Sea basin increased to 28,800 tonnes.

Blue whiting

The blue whiting fishery in May 2007 occurred only within the Faroese zone with the ships' gradual move to the zone's northern grounds (to the north and west of the islands where the fleets started to bycatch herring in small amounts). The total harvest of blue whiting appeared to be lower than in the previous month by 13,000 tonnes - mainly due to operations on more disperse concentrations of spent fish as well as due to rough weather.

According to provisional figures, total landings from the area are forecasted at 25,000 tonnes and the harvest of blue whiting in all the areas since the start of the year is estimated at more than 170,000 tonnes (40% contributed by Kaliningrad vessels).

Ocean perch

In the Irminger Sea the ocean perch fishery in the first half of May remained comparably non-stable. The bulk of concentrations spread on traditional grounds along the border of the 200-mile zone of Iceland at the depths of 650-750 meters, but the concentrations' abundance remained insufficiently strong. In the closing ten days of May the fishery conditions began gradually stabilizing, but the catch rates depended on proper tuning of the trawl system.

According to provisional figures, the harvest of ocean perch through May 2007 amounted to 4700 tonnes contributing to the total harvest since the start of the season of less than 6500 tonnes.

Halibut

In the North West Atlantic, namely in the area of the Flemish Cap and the Newfoundland Bank, two or three trawlers conducted deepsea fishery of Greenland halibut. Taking into account one ship operating in the waters of East Greenland, the harvest of halibut in the Northwest Atlantic in May amounted to ca.600 tonnes, while the catch of skates (shipped to the Spanish market) totaled 200 tonnes.

Central Eastern Atlantic

In the Central Eastern Atlantic a small group of vessels was targeting pelagic fish off Western Sahara and Mauritania. The dominating species were horse mackerel, sardine and mackerel. Two Kaliningrad-based tuna boats would sporadically work in the equatorial subarea with the total harvest through the month reported at 200 tonnes (dominated by spotted skipjack). Russia's total harvest in the waters of the Central Eastern Atlantic increased to 14,000 tonnes, 1900 tonnes up on the previous month.

Russian catch in the North Atlantic in May 2007