Pacific cod

The majority of the thirteen proposed stock units within Russian jurisdiction are believed to be assessed by bottom trawling surveys. Analytical assessments (VPA) are conducted for at least the Karaginsky subzone (PCA, 2010a). Survey frequency varies by area, but has been annual in Karaginsky. Survey and assessment results are generally consistent (PCA, 2010a).

Stock assessments in the Russian part of the Bering Sea are conducted by scientists from the regional scientific/research institutes of the State Fisheries Committee. In the Russian Far East these institutes include: the Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (TINRO); the Sakhalin Scientific Institute of Fishing Industry (SakhNIRO); and the Kamchatka Scientific Institute of Fishing Industry (KamchatNIRO). The responsibilities of these institutes, as well as the Moscow-based VNIRO, include: (1) the assessment and monitoring of fisheries resources; (2) the development of allowable harvest levels; and (3) the development of means to restore and improve aquatic habitats.

However, comprehensive information on stocks is not available to the general public because it is regarded as confidential and/or commercially sensitive and the biological criteria by which catch quotas are set are unclear. Following stock assessment by the regional research institutes, recommendations for the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) are submitted at the request of the State Fisheries Committee to VNIRO in Moscow, for compilation of the Proposed Total Allowable Catch (PTAC) for approval.

Last updated on 23 Jan 2012

Reference points are believed to be in place but values could not be obtained.

In the absence of publicly available biological reference points and stock assessments, quantitative evaluations of the stock status cannot be provided.

Overall, the cod stock is considered to be at a stable level and slowly growing, and is not thought to be either over or underfished. Survey and/or assessment data appears to support this view, with strong biomass increases in the West Bering Sea and Karaginsky, and above average biomass in the Petropavlovsk sub-zone, three of the most important fishing areas in recent years (PCA, 2010a). Sea of Okhotsk cod status is not clear, but it appears its biomass is still low, following a decline in the 1990s, but is expected to increase (PCA, 2010c; Vinnikov, 2008).

Several of the smaller units do not have enough data to allow their status to be determined.

A relatively short life cycle and variable year-class abundance means cod stocks are unstable and vulnerable to environmental factors and to changes in fishing patterns (PCA, 2010a).

Last updated on 23 Jan 2012

The Pacific cod fishery in the West Bering Sea, one of the most important fishing areas, began in the late 1960s, increasing rapidly to peak in 1971 with catches of 91,600 tons, and leading to the depletion of the fishery and no targeted catches in the latter half of the 1970s. From the 1980s the stock condition improved and catches climbed to a stable level around 40-60,000 tons by the early 1990s. Natural environmental processes are thought to have led to decreases in abundance in the following years, and catches remained mostly stable at a lower level between 18,000 and 29,000 tons even as the stock has increased in size (PCA, 2010a).

The largest catches are presently recorded in the Karaginsky subzone, but the maximum catches in this area were of just 34,000 tons in 1984. From the early 1990s the stock experienced a decline and catches have since varied between 7,000 and 27,000 tons. In recent years, a rapid stock growth has been observed in surveys and analytical assessments (PCA, 2010a).

In the other major fishing area, the Sea of Okhotsk, cod also declined during the 1990s due to factors unrelated to overfishing (PCA, 2010a).

Following approval, the PTAC is sent for State Environmental Review under the Ministry of Natural Resources. If agreed by the review commission, a general quota (TAC) is established, which will then be submitted for division into quotas for each of the nine to 13 management areas. TACs are usually set at scientifically advised levels, but are frequently changed during the fishing season. Any further changes in the TAC should also be subjected to an environmental review. The general quota is divided into 4 categories, namely, (1) industrial quota; (2) scientific quota; (3) quota for payment; (4) quota under international agreements.

Last updated on 23 Jan 2012

No specific recovery plans were found for this fishery but access to scientific assessment and management measures was limited.

Official catch statistics indicate the TAC is not fully harvested. Poaching has been reported as a problem in Russian Far Eastern fisheries and a national plan to reduce illegal, unreported and unregulated IUU) fishing was to be implemented in 2010 (PCA, 2010b) but cod is not considered a valuable catch species (PCA, 2010c).

Harvesting of rare and endangered species listed in the Russian Red Book is prohibited (PCA, 2010d). Humpback whales, narwhals, ribbon seals, Northern fur seal and orcas feed on cod, albeit not exclusively (PCA, 2010a,c), and among these, fur seal is classified by IUCN as Vulnerable (Gelatt & Lowry, 2008).

Past reports indicated significant quantities of bycatch in the Okhotsk Sea fisheries but there was a lack of information to substantiate this claim (Shuntov, 2001). Cod itself is thought to be largely taken as bycatch in other fisheries.

The Western Bering Sea is a more active ecosystem on the lower trophic levels with higher primary and secondary production compared to the Eastern Bering Sea, the former having higher production per unit area, the reasons for this differences probably being related to the narrower Western shelf having a larger percentage of its area associated with the high production area along the shelf break (Aydin & Livingston, 2003).

The Global International Waters Assessment, carried out in 2006 for the Oyashio current (Kuril Islands), considered the impacts of destructive fishing practices to be slight (Alekseev et al., 2006).