Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea

.
190 Total marine fisheries extractions by country in the Baltic Sea: 1950-present, Rossing, Booth and Zeller
gillnets and traps, catch quotas in Vistula lagoon were almost completely filled in recent years (Anon.,
2006b).
Major commercial species caught in the
waters near Leningrad oblast (ICES
subdivision 32, Figure 1) are herring
(Clupea harengus) and sprat, which
constituted approximately 76% of total
landings in 2007 (Anon., 2006b). European
smelt and brackish water fish, such as
pikeperch, bream and northern pike (Esox
lucius) are also commercially important. In
2007, the majority of herring (97%) was
caught by trawl, while gillnets accounted for
approximately 3%. Sprat is mostly caught
as bycatch during herring trawls. In 2007,
48% of the quota for herring was caught,
and pikeperch and bream had landings that
were 29% and 38% of their quotas,
respectively (Anon., 2007c).
In ICES subdivision 26, major commercial
fish species include sprat, herring, and cod
(Gadus morhua). In recent years, fisheries
landings in subdivision 26 were
significantly below the allocated quota, with
53.8%, 55%, and 60% of the quota being
caught in 2004, 2005, and 2006,
respectively (Shibaev, 2004). The only
species for which the quota was routinely
met was cod, which had 97% of its quota
caught in 2006. Pelagic and bottom
trawling are the most common fishing
Denmark
Sweden
Figure 1. Map of the Baltic Sea with ICES subdivisions and
surrounding countries. Russia‘s coastline borders ICES
subdivisions 26 (Kaliningrad) and 32 (Leningrad).
techniques in the Baltic Sea proper (ICES subdivision 26), and gillnets are used less frequently. Catches in
Vistula lagoon are taken by gillnets and traps, and 80% of catches in Curonian lagoon are taken with
gillnets (Shibaev, 2004).
Starting in the 1990s, Russia‘s fisheries landings began to decline. After the dissolution of the USSR,
Russia lost fisheries access to ICES sub-divisions 28 and 29, which are partly within the waters of the now
independent Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. However, the main reason for declining
landings was stated to be inefficient distribution of quotas and new requirements to obtain separate
paperwork for fishing either within 12 nautical miles or Russian exclusive economic zone (Shibaev, 2004).
Furthermore, often quotas were distributed very late in the fishing season and fishers had less time to
catch their assigned quota. Another reason for the decline in catches was the deterioration of fishing
vessels and equipment since the dissolution of the USSR. Fishers could rarely afford new vessels, and
combined with increases in fuel prices, and the requirement to sell all catches in the territory of Russia, led
to increased operating costs and low landings (Anon., 2006b).
The Russian fisheries can be divided into three categories: 1) state-owned fisheries; 2) fisheries-collective
farms; and 3) small, private fishing enterprises. Recently, 35-40 private fishing businesses were registered
to fish in the waters surrounding Kaliningrad with a total of approximately 300 small boats. Of these
small, private fishing businesses, 78% were local, 17% were registered in other regions of Russia, and 5%
were foreign-owned (Shibaev, 2004). In 2000, approximately half of the catch quotas in Kaliningrad were
received by small, private firms, and half were assigned to collective farms (Shibaev, 2004). State-owned
fisheries operate the larger vessels remaining from the Soviet era, whereas the small, private firms use a
variety of vessel types. The collective farms are still assigned a large portion of the catch quota in
comparison to the small, private enterprises (Shibaev, 2004).
Currently, fisheries statistics in these two administrative divisions of Russia are obtained from reports
collected every 15 days from registered fisheries, and information from log books, collected at the time of
22
23
Germany
24
25
27
30
26
Poland
28-2
29
RF
31
28-1
Finland
Latvia
Lithuania
32
Estonia
Russian
Federation
(RF)
0 200 400 Km
N