Russia’s fishing industry produced close to 4.80 million tonnes in 2017, 2% up on the previous year, and the best year’s fishing for a quarter of a century.
‘This, in our opinion, was the best period in the last 25 years, the second year we are breaking records. I hope the trend will continue, and the fishermen have a good start to the new working year,’ said Pyotr Savchuk, deputy head of the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries.
The figures indicate total landings of 4,774,000 tonnes, which includes 113,400 tonnes from fresh water, to give a figure 92,000 tonnes up on the 2016 total – although with still incomplete data on freshwater fisheries, an additional 30-40,000 tonnes could be added to the total.
Far East fisheries were roughly stable in 2017 at 3,112,000 tonnes, with a decrease due to lower catches of Pacific salmon and the pollock catch was also down by 9400 tonnes to 1,732,000 tonnes.
Northern waters saw landings up by 2500 tonnes to 569,200 tonnes, with the increase partly due to crab fishing and cod landings up 2400 tonnes to 396,700 tonnes
Fishing in the Black Sea and Sea of Azov was down 13,400 tonnes to 90,100 tonnes as sprat and freshwater fisheries declined while anchovy increased to 50,200 tonnes and tulka to 5500 tonnes. In the Volga-Caspian region the yield was 71,900 tonnes, including a 3100 tonne increase due to growth in freshwater fishing.
Russia’s Baltic fisheries came to 75,800 tonnes last year, consisting of 38,400 tonnes of sprat and 22,800 tonnes of Baltic herring.
The Russian fleet’s distant water fisheries totalled 493,100 tonnes in other nations’ EEZs in 2017, a 61,000 tonne increase attributed to fishing activity in Angolan, Moroccan and Japanese waters, while fisheries in waters governed by RFMOs and in international waters saw catches up by 61,100 tonnes to 310,700 tonnes.
Significant increases in 2017 were in catches of ivasi, mackerel and saury which more than doubled to 74,000 tonnes. The ivasi catch alone more than doubled to 16,1200 tonnes and mackerel landings increased more than five-fold to 51,430 tonnes.
