Russian scientists looking into pollock TAC 2022 and beyond

Among other issues, in late March the Board of Directors of Russia’s fishery research institutes have discussed projections for pollock TAC 2022 and long-term trends for the stock’s abundance, reports Megafishnet.com.

During the meeting it was proposed to set the pollock TAC 2022 at approximately 2 million MT, including one million MT in the Sea of Okhotsk. This is actually on a par with TAC 2021 as set by the order No.601 dated 9 October 2020 of Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture.

In the longer term, the scientists are forecasting a gradual reduction of the stock abundance in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea while the southern pollock populations are expected to grow in numbers.

With such prospects in mind, the Russian fishery head Ilya Shestakov has instructed the VNIRO institute scientists to develop a 10-year forecast of the pollock stocks’ abundance. "We are implementing a fleet renewal program in the Far East, we are creating a new cod industry, so it is important to understand what resources we have for the long term," Ilya Shestakov said.

The meeting has also discussed the TACs of Pacific cod, halibut, herring and other species. In general, it was concluded that the resources in the Russian Far East are in a stable state, their dynamics are predicted with sufficient reliability, which makes it possible to plan fishery with a high level of TAC exhaustion.

Other issues

The meeting also discussed forecasts of the total allowable catches of other species in the zone of Russian jurisdiction for 2022, as well as adjustments to the TAC for 2021 for the Northern and Far Eastern fisheries. Draft regional strategies for Pacific salmon fishery in the Far East were submitted for consideration as well.

It was noted that, according to preliminary data, the catch in 2020 amounted to 4.97 million tons. After summing up the final results, it is expected that the harvest at the end of last year should have exceeded 5 million metric tons.