Alaska pollock

Stock assessment is conducted annually and covers the North Okhotsk Sea, West Kamchatka and Kamchatka-Kuril areas. Assessments are conducted by KamchatNIRO, the Kamchatka fisheries research institute. KamchatNIRO conducted egg surveys but these have been suspended since 2013 due to lack of funding, and are used for tuning purposes only. The Russian Pacific Fisheries Research Centre (TINRO) conducts annual surveys for estimating spawning and total stock, age composition, biomass of plankton and oceanographic conditions in spawning areas. The estimates of abundance and exploitable biomass are based, respectively, on data collected from the ichthyoplankton and mid-water trawl surveys and from assumptions related to natural mortality, fishery selectivity, weight-at-age, catches and also data from surveys. Both scientific observers on commercial vessels and fishing by scientific vessels provide sampling data (O’Boyle et al., 2013). Catch per unit effort (CPUE) indices from the commercial fleet are also used as input data (Payne et al. 2018). The availability of information is considered to be strong enough to support the assessment and forecasts and the TAC advice (KamchatNIRO, 2015) and the assessment model is adequate and credible (Payne, A., G. Hønneland and D. Japp 2016).

In the Northern Sea of Okhotsk, the previously used ‘biostatistical’ stock assessment method estimated biomass from ichthyoplankton and mid-water trawl survey data. From 2010, the results of a ‘Synthesis’ statistical catch-at-age model have been used as the basis for TAC-setting. The model has been found to perform relatively well, with most uncertainty linked to historical catch-at-age data and to the relationships between data collected from the fishery and the variables of interest. Estimates of unreported discards of juveniles are included in the model. There had been suggestions that the sources of uncertainty should be better accounted for (O’Boyle et al., 2013) but a recent review concluded that major uncertainties are appropriately considered (Payne, A., G. Hønneland and D. Japp 2016). The coastal Danish seine fishery reportedly no longer presents data availability problems (O’Boyle et al., 2013).

The assessment is peer-reviewed both within TINRO and externally and advised TACs may be reduced as a consequence of the process (O’Boyle et al., 2013). Only summaries of the stock assessment reports have been made public and have been done so irregularly.

Maximum sustainable yield (MSY) reference points are used in the stock analysis and projections since 2012 (KamchatNIRO, 2013). The limit biomass reference point was redefined in 2015 and decreased from 3,416 thousand tonnes, previously defined as 10% of the confidence interval for the estimate of B_25% (KamchatNIRO, 2014) to 2,583 thousand tonnes, a new B_loss estimate (KamchatNIRO, 2015). A 2016 review of the reference points concluded that no adjustments were required (Payne et al. 2018).

B_trp = 5,089 thousand tonnes (=B_MSY)
B_lim = 2,583 thousand tonnes (=B_loss)
F_trp = 0.235 (=F_MSY)
F₀ = F adopted under the HCR at SSB<B_lim = 10% of B_trp = 0.024
F_lim = 0.305 (=F_35%)

Scientific advice for this stock is generated by KamchatNIRO in the form of annual TAC forecasts, based on the results of the stock assessment and the harvest control rule. These are reviewed and agreed upon at TINRO by the “Council on Pollock”, and passed to the Scientific Council of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fishery and Oceanography (VNIRO). A stakeholder discussion follows, before a review by the independent Ministry of Natural Resources, and finally approval by the Federal Fishery Agency under the Ministry of Agriculture. VNIRO’s role is one of oversight and ensuring scientific rigor and overall legality of the decision process (O’Boyle et al., 2013; Payne et al. 2018).

Two-year forecasts are conducted by scientists, and these are used as part of the TAC-setting decision. A ten-year projection is now also evaluated (Payne et al. 2018). For the Sea of Okhotsk, as the stock has been above its target reference point, fishing at the target fishing mortality level of 0.235 was advised for 2016, corresponding to a TAC of 966.7 thousand tonnes, with a less than 10% risk of overfishing (KamchatNIRO, 2015). For 2017, the same fishing mortality of 0.235 would have resulted from applying the harvest control rule, corresponding to a TAC of 1,084,100 tonnes but scientists and managers agreed to maintain the TAC at 2016 levels (Payne, A., G. Hønneland and D. Japp 2016). Again in 2018, applying the target fishing mortality would have resulted in catches of 1,078 thousand tonnes, but the TAC was maintained at 2016 and 2017 levels (Payne et al. 2018; Ministry of Agriculture 2017). The advised TAC for 2020 is 1.064 million tonnes (KamchatNIRO 2019).

Projections run in 2019 indicated an optimistic outlook for the state of the pollock stock in the short term (KamchatNIRO 2019).

Assessment model results estimate northern Sea of Okhotsk spawning biomass at the beginning of 2018 at 6.16 million tonnes, above the target reference point (B_trp) of 5.089 million tonnes and slightly below the 2017 estimate (KamchatNIRO 2019), countering the 2017 significant increase on 2016 and 2015. Since 2009 spawning biomass has been above B_trp. Recruitment declined during the 1990s but is now at higher, albeit variable, levels. The 2011 and 2013 year classes were strong and helped to stabilize the stock, but the 2012 class was weak (Payne et al. 2018). The 2014 year class is also now showing to be productive (TINRO Center 2019). The recent slight decrease in biomass can be attributed to the loss of the 2011 year class from the fishable stock, while the strong 2013 year class is still in the process of recruiting to the fishable and spawning stock (KamchatNIRO 2019). The 2019 trawl survey and the ichthyoplankton survey both also recorded a slight decrease in the total pollock stock from 2018 (TINRO Center 2019).

Fishing mortality in 2017 was predicted to be 0.225, below the target (F_tr=0.235), where it has been since 2014 (TINRO Center 2018).

The most recent and substantive reform of the fisheries legislation took place in 2009. The revised Federal Act on Fisheries and Aquatic Biological Resources Conservation (Fisheries Act) was signed on 9 December 2009. The Act required adoption of a number of normative acts defining procedures for the implementation of its provisions. The work on the normative acts required was accomplished by the end of 2010.

Major improvements to the Act, in particular, include (1) mandatory delivery of catches taken in the EEZ and adjacent shelf areas to Customs territories for export and domestic trade processing, (2) separate management of fisheries in inshore (coastal) sea areas, (3) introduction of limits on by-catches to be incorporated in fisheries regulations and (4) new provisions on cancelling the right to fish. The current fisheries legislation in Russia provides the required foundation for a modern system of fisheries governance and management of aquatic biological resources.

The Federal Fisheries Agency (FFA), under the Ministry of Agriculture, coordinates fishery management. Since 2009, the government allocates quota shares to fishing enterprises for each target species with a TAC defined, for a period of 10 or 15 years. Factual quotas are calculated pro-rata to TACs which are defined annually. The pollock fisheries are subject to this regulation. For a full and up-to-date reference list of fisheries legislation acts of direct importance to the Russia Far East pollock fisheries (in English) see the Overview of the Russian Fishery Management System published in June 2012 on the Russian Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) website.

Besides issuing fishing permits, allocating quota shares, defining TACs, allocating parcels of fishing areas for harvesting anadromous fish species and providing fishing rights for harvesting aquatic resources for which TACs are not defined, all categories of fisheries are regulated by so-called Fishery Regulations (“Pravila rybolovstva”). The Regulations are set separately for several major fishing areas including the Far East Basin. All Regulations specify closed areas, seasonal closures, prohibited fishing gear and limitations of particular gear, minimum mesh sizes, minimum allowable size of fish to be harvested, limits on bycatch of undersized target species, list of prohibited bycatch species and limits of by-catch of non-target species, including a rule to move to another fishing location once a limit is reached. The Regulations also define requirements for VMS monitoring of fishing vessels and daily vessel reports on fishing and fish processing operations. Only pelagic trawl and coastal seines may be used to fish pollock. A cod end minimum mesh size is in place, square panels must be used, and a minimum size is enforced. Fisheries are closed during spawning season and closed areas due to juveniles are in use. The formerly prevalent practice of stripping of roe and subsequent discarding is banned (O’Boyle et al., 2013).

The harvest control rule (HCR) uses results from the stock assessment process and reduces the fishing mortality to be applied as biomass falls below the target. Below the biomass limit reference point, F₀ is applied. The application rules are laid out in the following three scenarios as applicable, where F_i and B_i are the fishing mortality and biomass for year i (Payne et al. 2018):

I: F_i = F₀ at B_i < B_lim 

II: F_i = (F_trp – F₀) (B_i – B_lim) / (B_trp – B_lim) + F₀ at B_lim < B_i < B_trp

III: F_i = F_trp at B_i > B_trp

The pollock official TAC for 2019 was set at 964 thousand tonnes, close to the 2016-2018 TACs of around 966,000 tonnes (Ministry of Agriculture 2019, Ministry of Agriculture 2017, Ministry of Agriculture 2016). 

The subzone allocations of the TAC are as follows:

North-Okhotsk: 347,100 tonnes
West Kamchatka: 347,100 tonnes
Kamchatka-Kuril: 269,800 tonnes.

Set TACs had reportedly been aligned with scientific advised TACs since 2000, but in 2014 and 2015 exceeded recommended levels. From 2016-2018, the TAC has been set at or below scientific advised levels (2019 advised TAC could not be obtained) at stable levels. This is due to industry requests considering global pollock prices (KamchatNIRO 2019).

The extent to which pollock fishermen in the Sea of Okhotsk stay within the authorized TACs is difficult to document with absolute certainty. Official statistics are based on Daily Vessel Reports (DVRs) and report that generally, landings stay in line with TACs. However, some estimates show that in 2005-2009, due to discards of undersized pollock, factual annual catches were on average 23.9% above TACs (KamchatNIRO, 2010). From some reports, Sea of Okhotsk catches in 2010 slightly exceeded the TAC (117% TAC fulfillment) but were 19.9% higher than official catch data due to discarding of undersized pollock, inaccurate raw-to-processed fish conversion coefficients and selective processing of catches [during pollock roe production] (KamchatNIRO, 2011a), although there were conflicting reports of a reduction in discarding of juveniles during the same period (Fishgov.ru, 2011; O’Boyle et al., 2013) due to market factors and monitoring efforts. In 2011 the official TAC attainment was 98%, with a quota surpass in the Okhotsk Sea sub-area compensated by shortfalls in other areas, and a similar estimated 23% higher actual catch than official statistics (KamchatNIRO, 2012b). Official 2012 quota attainment was also 98% (KamchatNIRO, 2013) and in 2013 it was a record 99% (KamchatNIRO, 2014). Catch statistics for 2015 place it at 98% (PCA 2016) and for 2016 also at 98% (Payne et al. 2018). However, in view of the above, it should also be taken into account that according to fisheries regulations in force (FA Order N671, 2011) permitted by-catch of undersized pollock should stay within a limit of 20% of total catch by numbers. When by-catch is above the limit it must be retained and recorded and the vessel should relocate the position of the next trawl to a distance of 5 n. miles from its previous position (O’Boyle et al., 2013). A one-time excess over this limit is however permitted but must be reported. "Mirror" inserts are mandatory in trawl nets to reduce bycatch rates (KamchatNIRO 2019). Reports state that juvenile discarding rates are currently low (O’Boyle et al., 2013) and that undersized pollock constitutes 17.2% of catch by numbers (Payne et al. 2018). Increased bycatch of undersized pollock in the trawl fishery was however reported in 2019, due to the incoming strong year classes (KamchatNIRO 2019).

In general, the current system for the fisheries management, monitoring and control meets the requirements of a modern system. In particular, it comprises DVR catch reporting, VMS vessel position monitoring and vessel inspection at-sea and in ports. The system is described on the Fisheries Agency official site. A document Overview of the Russian Fishery Management System was published in June 2012 on the PCA website (in English). The Federal Security Services (FSB) government marine inspectors conduct on-board and port inspections, which include verification of compliance with juvenile bycatch rules, interactions with mammals and benthic species, verification of logbooks and monitoring of VMS data, and FFA inspectors also analyze VMS and DVR data. Data from government on-board vessel inspections have indicated a decreasing rate of violations, from 3.4% in 2008 to 1.7% in 2010 (O’Boyle et al., 2013). Scientific observers record catch and discard composition and conduct biological sampling but are not required by law. Observer coverage has been increasing in recent years (Payne et al. 2018, TINRO Center 2019) but is still low in the Danish seine fleet. An Observer Working Group has been set up as part of the MSC certification process and observer coverage rates in the pelagic trawl fishery are now considered to be statistically sufficient, but still did not meet EU Data Collection sampling standard rates in 2017 (Payne et al. 2018).

The mandatory delivery to Russia Customs territories of all marine fisheries catches taken in the Russia EEZ is in place since Jan 2009, the same year the FAO Port State Agreement to Prevent IUU Fishing was signed. The measure is expected to have reduced IUU fishing activities, and indirect estimates from NGOs and independent experts appear to confirm this. A lower level of IUU fishing activities seems to persist, mostly by fishing vessels under Flags of Convenience, although there are still no official annual estimates of IUU fishing levels made by any regulatory authorities. The reports of pollock fisheries violations published on the site of RFE Border Control Division (Federal Security Service) include cases of not recording catches, taking fish above quotas and misreporting catch areas. The MSC certification process raised a condition which included a requirement to ensure the monitoring of fishery removals was sufficiently well and regularly conducted and records of landings were accurate and consistent (O’Boyle et al., 2013). As of the 2017 fourth surveillance audit, that condition was considered to have been met and was closed (Payne, A., G. Hønneland and D. Japp 2016).

Endangered, threatened and protected (ETP) species found in the fishery area include Steller sea lion, whales, harbor and Dall's porpoises, Risso's dolphin, otters, short-tailed albatross, sleeper sharks and chum and Chinook salmon (O’Boyle et al, 2013; Payne et al. 2018).

Among Russian Red Book and IUCN-endangered species known to occur in Russian Far East, Steller sea lions were reported to have shown population growth since the 1960s in northern Sea of Okhotsk and Sakhalin Island areas but to have declined sharply in the areas of western Bering Sea, Commander Island and Eastern Kamchatka (Gelatt & Lowry, 2012). Its status in the Sea of Okhotsk is more recently reported to be decreasing in abundance (Kuzin, 2016 in Payne et al. 2018).

Marine protected areas are also in place focusing on protecting large cetaceans and, in the Kuril and Magadan reserves, on Steller sea lion rookeries and haul outs (O’Boyle et al., 2013). 

Monitoring and observer coverage is focused mainly on the larger pelagic trawl fishery, than the coastal Danish seine fishery.

According to TINRO (the Pacific Fisheries Research Centre) in terms of the impact of the fishery on the benthic habitat, the general pattern is apparently quite favorable. The fishery is almost exclusively pelagic after bottom trawling was discontinued in the 1990s. In addition, trawling may not be conducted less than 30 miles off shore and 5-12 miles from islands (O’Boyle et al., 2013). TINRO also reports that bottom contact fishing methods are limited to the use of Danish Seine only and that spatial restrictions apply (coastal zone only). On-board inspections detecting benthic species result in fines (O’Boyle et al., 2013). Reports from the midwater trawl fishery indicate that interactions of the gear with the sea-bed are actively avoided by fishers, at least partially driven by the economic reasons (Acoura, 2015). 

Ongoing monitoring of the benthos in the bottom trawl survey program suggests stable biodiversity and productivity in the system, and this is probably strongly linked to the absence of any major bottom trawling in the area. Studies of the benthic habitat are ongoing, including of the distribution of rare species used as indicators of vulnerable marine ecosystems (VMEs) (Payne et al. 2018).

Surveys by TINRO and local institutes cover most of the Sea of Okhotsk, collecting data on fish speacies, plankton, and stomach contents. Pollock has been determined to be the dominant top pelagic predator in the ecosystem, with Pacific herring and sardine constituting the other two "strategic" species. Pollock is also a food source for predators including other pollock, other fish and marine mammals (Payne et al. 2018). The Sea of Okhotsk ecosystem is primarily driven by climate, with intensive fishing as a secondary driving force (Heileman and Belikin 2010 in Payne et al. 2018). Impacts of the fishery on marine mammals due to trophic effects are thought to be unlikely.