Russian fisheries in North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic on 8-15 November 2007

In the second week of November 2007 Russia's registered catch in provisional figures the North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic amounted to 12,100 metric tons, 2100 tonnes up on the result of the previous week, fishery sources in Murmansk told www.fishnet-russia.com (https://www.fishnet.ru/).

The decrease of the total harvest through the week could be attributed to diminishing catches of herring in the Norwegian Sea and pelagic fish in the Central Eastern Atlantic.

Polar cod Boreogadus saida keeps taking the first place in catch volumes in the Barents Sea. Fairly good fishery situation which was observed on the grounds for the second week running enabled the fishermen to harvest more than 3000 tonnes of polar cod accounting for 22-27% of the total harvest in all the areas.

The second place in terms of contribution to the total harvest was taken by the Barents Sea cod with the fleets reporting a total catch of 2600 tonnes of the species (22% of the total harvest). Due to seasonal decrease of the catch volumes and partial quota take-up, the herring of the Norwegian Sea descended to the third place in terms of its contribution to the total harvest, catches of the species amounted to 1500 tonnes (1100 tonnes down) or 12% of the total harvest.

Red king crab

The red king crab fishery in the Barents Sea and the blue whiting fishery in the Norwegian Sea remained on a par with the previous weeks. The blue whiting fishery in the course of the second week of November practically completely moved to the Faroese fishing zone.

In the Barents Sea bottomfish operations were continued by ca.60 vessels. Fishing efforts on the cod grounds redistributed towards the southeastern part of the sea. In the Russian zone at least 35 vessels were operating and they contributed no more than 35% of cod and nearly all the haddock harvest. In the waters of Spitsbergen more favourable fishing situation enabled the fleets to catch ca.65% of all the cod harvest through the week. The total harvest of bottomfish species in the Barents Sea in the second week of November 2007 was estimated at 3700 tonnes.

The group of crabbers operating in the Barents Sea remained stable in number of vessels reaching 20. Their catch rates fluctuated from 1 to 15 tonnes per day depending on the vessels' location. The total harvest of crab through the week remained not changed substantially and amounted to 600 tonnes.

Polar cod

Up to 7 trawlers were operating on the grounds of polar cod Boreogadus saida off the New Land. According to the shipowners, the fishery conditions were fairly good. Subject to favourable weather conditions the fleet's daily harvest could reach 100 and more tonnes and it mostly depended on the vessels' processing capacity. As per mid-November 2007 the polar cod prices were reported at ca.RUB14.00 per kilo and the fishermen were much concerned about how long they would stay that high taking into account increasing supplies. The thing was that in case of lower prices for the product the fishery operations would grow nearly unprofitable. The total harvest of polar cod Boreogadus saida through the week amounted to 3300 tonnes, 200 tonnes up on the corresponding result of the previous week.

Herring

In the Norwegian Sea the fleet operating on the herring grounds in the Norwegian EEZ continued diminishing and by the end of the week under analysis there were 3-4 vessels on the grounds. As a result of decreasing the fishing efforts and stormy weather the total harvest dropped to 1500 tonnes, 1100 tonnes down on the previous week.

Blue whiting

According to the season, the bulk of the fleet hunting for blue whiting moved to the Faroese fishing zone where by the end of the second week of November 2007 there were up to 5 trawlers operating. The fishery was impeded by the stormy weather due to which the group's harvest did not exceed 1000 tonnes.

Central Eastern Atlantic

In the Central Eastern Atlantic the fleet targeting pelagic species in the Mauritanian waters provisionally came down to 2-5 vessels, thus resulting into a decrease of catches of mackerel, sardine and horse mackerel. The total harvest in the area amounted to 1100 tonnes dominated by sardine (up to 50%).

Russian catch in the North Atlantic and Central Eastern Atlantic on 8-15 November 2007, provisional figures