Modern specialized fishery of sea fish in the western Bering Sea

Abstract

The shelf and continental slope of the western Bering Sea, being among the most productive areas of the Far-Eastern Seas of Russia, became exploited by commercial fishery half a century ago, after introduction of 200-mile exclusive economic zones in 1977 and relocation of the Russian fishing fleet from the eastern Bering Sea to its western part. In 2010-2019, about 20 % of the total catch of sea fish in the Far-Eastern basin (excluding pacific salmons) were caught in the West Bering Sea fishery zone. Among the fishery districts of the Russian Far East, this area is currently the 1st one by annual catch of pacific cod, grenadiers, sculpins and sablefish, 2nd — by catch of walleye pollock, halibuts and skates, 3rd — by catch of rockfishes, and 4th — by catch of pacific herring and flounders. Features of specialized fishery in the West Bering Sea fishery zone in 2010-2019 are clarified. Now 48 types of the specialized fishery can be distinguished here, while 96.3 % of the average annual landing is provided by the following 8 most important types: walleye pollock midwater trawl fishery (77.8 % of mean annual catch); pacific herring midwater trawl fishery (6.1 %); pacific cod bottom longline fishery (4.7 %); walleye pollock Danish seine fishery (2.7 %); grenadiers bottom longline fishery (2.4 %), pacific cod Danish seine fishery (0.9 %); squids bottom trawl fishery (0.9 %); and pacific cod bottom trawl fishery (0.8 %). All these types of fishery are highly specialized and portion of the target objects in the catches ranges from 76 to 96 % (according to official statistics), while the by-catch accounted as 4-24 %. The is no specialized fishery on such objects as rockfishes, arrowtooth and kamchatka flounders, and sablefish in the West Bering Sea fishery zone, but they are landed as by-catch. The fishery statistics with the data sorting to specialized fishery and by-catch can be used quite effectively for the stocks assessment and determining acceptable level of their exploitation, with recommendations for fishery regulation, including evaluation the possible level of non-specialized by-catch.

The Aleutians and Beyond: Distribution, Size Composition, and Catch Dynamics of the Aleutian Skate Bathyraja aleutica across the North Pacific

“…Currently, targeted fishing for skates in the Russian Far Eastern waters has not been developed, with catches occurring as by-catch of other target fisheries [ 10 , 11 ]. Historically, catch surveys did not separate skates by species, and they were not retained and utilized, but discarded after capture [ 76 , 77 , 78 ]. This situation has changed in recent years when several Russian companies started to export skate wings to China and the British Virgin Islands [ 10 , 11 ].…”

Analysis of modern dynamics of halibut stocks and fisheries in the northwestern part of the Bering Sea

“…1 Б). Если в 1976-1990 г., при низком уровне запасов, его нерестовая биомасса в восточной части Берингова моря и у Алеутских островов в среднем оценивалась на уровне вину 1980-х гг., и, в первую очередь, был связан с интенсивной эксплуатацией запасов чёрного палтуса траловым флотом многих стран, в том числе и СССР [Alton et al, 1988, Bryan et al, 20202021 Запасы белокорого палтуса в этой части Северной Пацифики до начала 1980-х гг. активно не эксплуатировались, его основной промысел был сосредоточен юго-восточнее, в заливе Аляска и вдоль тихоокеанского побережья североамериканского континента, вплоть до Калифорнии.…”

Long-Term Changes in the Distribution and Abundance of Nine Deep-Water Skates (Arhynchobatidae: Rajiformes: Chondrichthyes) in the Northwestern Pacific

“…In the Far Eastern Fisheries basin of Russia in the 1990s, only 11.4–11.7 thousand tons were recommended for harvesting; and in the 2000s, 7.2–11.9; in the 2010s, 11.2–14.0; and in the 2020s, 11.2–11.3 thousand tons (first within estimated total allowable catch—TAC, then within possible catch—PC or recommended catch—RC). Skates were not separated by species, but their actual total catch never reached the recommended values, since these fish got on board Russian fishing vessels as bycatch only, were not retained and utilized and were subsequently discarded [ 20 , 21 , 22 ]. The situation has changed in recent years after some Russian companies started to export skate wings to China and the British Virgin Islands at prices between 0.9 and 1.3 USD per kg, while they also may be profitably marketed in Japan and Korea [ 23 , 24 ].…”