/

Not to be cited without prior reference to the Authors

International Council for CM 1999/S:02 the Exploration of the Sea Theme Session (S) on Evaluation of Complete Fisheries Systems: Economic, Social and Ecological Analyses

FISHERIES, STATUS OF STOCKS AND MANAGEMENT OF ATLANTIC SALMON IN RUSSIA IN 1998

by

l 2 4 S.V.Prusov , B.F.Prischepa \ S.S.Krylova , V.P.Antonova\ and V.F.Bugaev

Introduction From the late 80's catches of Atlantic salmon have been steadily declining in all countries of the North Atlantic and although more than 50% of countries had catches somewhat higher in 1998 than in the previous year they still remain below the 5-year (1993-1997) and 10-year (1988- 1997) means. This decline can largely be attributed to alterations of Atlantic salmon management pattern in most of the countries targeted at reduction of fishing effort (ICES 1999 Assess: 14). In Russia in 1998 fishing gears remained unchanged. As before barrier fences which block a river completely in its estuary were used for in-river fishery on the Kola peninsula, trap nets and beach seines, fixed gill and drift nets in the Archangelsk Region. Coastal fishery in the White Sea was conducted primarily with trap nets. The number of gears used in coastal fishery remained the same as in previous years. On the Kola peninsula a tendency persists of reallocating quotas between in-river commercial fisheries and recreational fishery based on catch-and-release. In 1998 only 5 barrier fences were operated commercially against 7 in the two previous years (10 in 1995).

Catch in commercial fisheries The catch by coastal fisheries in the White Sea remained at the level of previous years and was 56.9 t. Total catch by in-river fisheries was 73.7 t. Total declared commercial catch in Russia was 130.6 t in 1998 which was 19.5 t more than in the previous year, however, at the same level as in 1993-1997 (Table 1). The increase occurred at the expense of 1SW salmon from the Varzuga river where the catch of 52.6 t was fished (9.5 t in 1995). The catch from the Barents Sea rivers which was 4.9 t in 1998 has been steadily declining since the early 90's (23.6 t in 1993-1997,40.6 t in 1988-1997) which is associated with declining stocks, increased pressure from illegal fishing and some alternations of the fishing regime targeted at reduction of fishing

1 Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (PINRO), 6 Knipovich Street, Munnansk, 183763Russia. 2 Munnansk Regional Directorate of Conservation and Enhancement ofFish Stocks (Munnamybvod), 2 Komso1l1olskaya Street, Munnansk, Russia. 3 Northem Affiliate of the Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (SevPINRO), Archangels!<, Russia. 4 Karelian Regional Directorate of Conservation and Enhancement of Fish Stocks (Karelrybvod), Petrozavodsk, Russia 2

effort. On the whole, the catch of Atlantic salmon on the Kola peninsula in 1998 was somewhat higher than the previous 5-year mean but less than the mean for the previous 10-years. In other regions of the Northwest Russia declared catch was less than the previous 5-year (1993-1997) and 1O-year (1988-1997) means (Table 1). Under the ban on the fishery on the Pechora river currently in force only scientific fishing with drift nets on the downstream reaches of the river was conducted.

Unreported catch continues to make up a considerable part ("guess-estimate" - up to 70%) of the total catch. In Archangelsk region situation is rather dramatic. A total catch including unreported catch assessed by comparing catch survey results with reported catch for the Severnaja Dvina was about 30 t, instead of8.6 t declared.

Recreational fishery The catch of Atlantic salmon in recreational fishery on the Kola peninsula has been fairly stable over the past 7 years, from the time of its initiation in 1991. In 1998 12 776 salmon were taken in catch-and-release fishery which was 80.9% of the total rod catch. The analysis of CPUE data from the recreational fishery (catch-and-release) (Table 2) has shown that the catch per angler per day on the Barents Sea rivers exhibits a significant downward trend (Route regression analysis; p=0.997), whereas on the White Sea rivers. - a significant upward trend (Route regression analysis; p=O.OOI). Since the number of issued licences remained the same in the last years a reduction in CPUE on the Barents Sea rivers can be directly attributed to an overall decline of Atlantic salmon stocks there and MSW salmon in particular, which proportion in salmon stocks in northern rivers on the Kola peninsula has been historicaliy higher than in the rivers draining into the White Sea. As a whole, the 1998 CPUE in catch-and-release was higher than the 1993-1997 average (Table 2).

Age composition and exploitation rate The age composition of commercial ~atch in Russian home waters in 1998 remained the same as in the previous two years. Grilse continued to dominate the total catch and accounted for 83% (68% in 1991-1995). On the Kola peninsula where the catch was primarily composed of salmon from rivers of the White Sea basin ISW salmon accounted for 94% of the total catch while they made up only 12% ofthe catch taken in the Archangel region.

Table 3 presents exploitation rates for salmon stocks in some rivers on the Kola peninsula where barrier fences were operated over a rather long time. On all these rivers except the Varzuga river exploitation rates in 1998 decreased against the previous year. The route regression analysis has shown a downward trend in exploitation rates in fisheries on the Barents Sea rivers over the past 5 and 10 years, and over the past 10 years on rivers flowing into the White Sea. In general, a decrease of exploitation rates in Russia is associated with cessation of fisheries on a number of rivers and re-allocation of quotas between commercial and recreational fisheries.

Adult returns Adult counts are available for 8 rivers on the Kola peninsula and one river in Karelia (Tabale 4). Adults returning to these rivers were counted at barrier fences except the PonQi river where the stock from 1994 onwards has been assessed by using the mark-recapture estimate. Compared to 1997 returns to all White Sea rivers increased in 1998, however, decreased to the Barents Sea rivers (except the B.Z.Litsa river). Compared to averages for the previous 5 and 10 years the abundances of salmon in the Ponoi and Varzuga rivers increased in 1998, however, they declined in the Barents Sea rivers, Umba river and Keret. The analysis of data for the past 10 years indicates a downward trend in abundance of adults returning to rivers flowing into the Barents 3

Sea (except B.Z.Litsa), and to the Kitsa, Umba and Keret rivers. For rivers B.Z.Litsa, Ponoi and Varzuga no trend was identified in adult returns over the past 10 years.

Attainment of stock conservation limits Currently conservation limits have been set for Kola rivers where the fishery has been conducted for 30-40 years at barrier fences placed in the estuary of some rivers and whereby comprehensive catch statistics and biological data have been collected. Conservation limits have been defined for 5 rivers as MSY points on "stock-recruitment" curves (Alexeev, Prusov, 1998) as recommended by WGNAS (ICES 1995/Assess:14). For those rivers where habitat data are available conservation limits have been established by transporting reference points - 2.73 eggs/m2 for the Barents Sea rivers and 3.85 eggs/m2 for the White Sea rivers. The approach using total catchment area has been applied for other rivers (Table 5). In 1998 the numbers of eggs attained in the Varzuga and in the Kitsa exceeded the conservation limits. In 3 Barents sea rivers where data are available eggs attainment has been below the spawning requirements.

Management From the late 50's as a precautionary stock conservation measure (Zubchenko, Zelentsov, 1998) concentrated fishing for salmon at barrier fences which completely blocked the river was introduced on salmon rivers of the Kola peninsula with commercial in-river fisheries. The barrier fences were operated in a manner providing that no less than 50% of salmon entering the river could migrate upstream to spawning grounds which was implemented through a fishing regime - one day fishing/one day migration. On those rivers where the stock was in a bad shape and/or returns were anticipated to be rather low the fishing regime was altered for .one day fishing/two days migration. In addition, from the early 90's when the recreational fishery began to develop the number of salmon for free migration through a barrier fence to spawning grounds was increased for those rivers which supported both commercial and sports fisheries. In 1998 for all rivers on the Kola peninsula where concentrated fishery was conducted spawner escapement targets had been established on the basis of conservation limits recently set. Taking into account, that adult returns to the Tuloma and Umba rivers were anticipated to be below the spawner escapement target, fisheries' on these rivers were suspended and only scientific fishing was conducted and parent fish were collected for enhancement purposes. On rivers B.Z.Litsa, Ura and Kola one day fishing alternated with two days of migration before 25 June, thereafter the fishing regime was altered for one day fishing/one day migration under condition that a sufficient number offemales migrated to spawning grounds. On the Varzuga and Kitsa rivers no more than 37% of salmon migrating for spawning were allowed to be harvested in the fishery, besides, to support recreational fishery additional number of salmon counted against commercial catch was also let migrate through barrier fences.

In the Archangel region the established practice of inappropriate management of fisheries conducted at numerous localities badly controlled has led to a considerable over-exploitation of salmon populations which as a consequence may eventually loose their status as populations eligible for commercial harvesting.

Gyrodactylus salaris Abundances of juvenile salmon have been observed to decline drastically in the Keret river (Karel ian coast of the White Sea) in recent years, where 100% of the young are found to be infested with the parasite Gyrodactylus safaris. 4

References Alexeev, M. Ju. and S. v.Prusov. 1998. Estimates of conservation limits for Atlantic salmon females for four Russian rivers. ICES CM 19981DD: 1.

Anon. 1995. Report of the Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon. Copenhagen, 3-12 April 1995. ICES CM 1995/Assess:14, Ref M.

Anon. 1999. Report of the Working Group on North Atlantic Salmon. Quebec City, 12-22 April 1999. ICES CM 1999/Assess:14, Ref M.

Zubchenko, A. V. and A. V. Zelentsov. 1998. Salmon rivers of the Kola peninsula. Precautionary approach and management of Atlantic salmon in rivers of the Kolapeninsula. ICES CM 1998/T:5. 5

Table 1. Nominal catch of Atlantic salmon by regions of Russia (in tonnes round fresh weight), 1976-1998*.

Year Kola peninsula Archangelsk Pechora Karelia Total Barents sea White sea Total region river catch

1976 83,3 362,9 446,2 90,8 4,9 541,9 1977 67,0 237,4 304,4 65,6 123,0 4,3 497,3 1978 44,9 187,5 232,4 68,0 172,0 3,1 475,5 1979 27,0 245,9 272,9 86,4 92,3 3,4 455,0 1980 42,8 232,0 274,8 121,0 261,6 6,3 663,7 1981 46,0 183,5 229,5 52,3 178,6 2,7 463,1 1982 37,2 172,7 209,9 57,3 93,9 3,0 364,1 1983 73,3 237,4 310,7 74,9 110,7 10,2 506,5 1984 97,4 256,9 354,3 74,8 156,5 7,6 593,2 1985 60,1 314,8 374,9 66,8 207,0 10,0 658,7 1986 44,8 256,5 301,3 75,2 225,2 6,0 607,7 1987 50,0 289,5 339,5 55,3 164,6 5,0 564,4 1988 32,1 201,4 233,5 65,6 115,0 5,8 419,9 1989 68,1 199,4 267,5 52,9 28,8 14,5 363,7 1990 81,5 171,9 253,4 52,3 0,0 6,9 312,6 1991 47,3 112,9 160,2 48,0 4,7 2,3 215,2 1992 59,4 78,1 137,5 23,2 3,8 2,2 166,7 1993 34,1 70,8 104,9 28,2 5,3 0,7 139,1 1994 28,6 76,4 105,0 33,5 2,2 0,5 141,2 1995 26,4 59,3 85,7 30,4 11,6 0,4 128,1 1996 19,5 82,4 101,9 24,0 3,9 0,7 130,5 1997 9,3 76,6 85,9 22,4 2,4 0,4 111,1 1998 4,9 96,1 101,0 25,1 4,2 0,3 130,6

Means 1993-97 23,6 73,1 96,7 27,7 5,1 0,5 130,0 1988-97 40,6 112,9 153,6 38,1 17,8 3,4 212,8

Figures from 1991 onwards do not include catches taken in the recently developed recreational (rod) fishery. 6

Table 2 CPUE data for recreational (rod) fishery in Kola peninsula, 1991-98. (catch per rod day).

Barents sea basin White sea basin Total Year Rynda Kharlovka Varzina lokanga Ponoi Varzuga Kitsa Umba

1991 2,794 1,870 1,330 1992 2,370 1,454 1,070 0,135 3,489 2,261 1,209 1,366 2,454 1993 1,177 1,464 0,488 0,650 2,881 1,278 1,425 2,720 1,890 1994 0,710 0,847 0,548 0,325 2,332 1,596 1,588 1,436 1,393 1995 0,486 0,782 1,220 0,718 3,459 2,524 1,784 1,196 2,045 1996 0,703 0,845 1,502 1,398 3,503 1,444 1,761 0,930 1,808 1997 1,197 0,709 0,613 1,411 5,330 2,364 2,482 1,457 2,397 1998 1,010 0,551 0,441 0,868 4,544 2,284 2,784 0,979 2,204

Means 1993-97 0,855 0,929 0,874 0,900 3,501 1,841 ; 1,808 1,548 1,907

Table 3 Estimated exploration rates (in %) of salmon in homewater fisheries in Russia. (Estimates based on counter and catch figures).

Barents sea basin White sea basin Year B.Z.Litsa Ura Tuloma Kola Ponoi* Kitsa Varzuga Umba net net net net net and roc net net net W W W W+HR W W W W All sea ages

1985 48 49 47 90 47 46 39 50 1986 49 50 50 77 50 44 49 50 1987 49 49 49 91 48 35 37 35 1988 49 48 51 87 77 35 36 34 1989 49 48 50 84 78 35 37 31 1990 49 47 50 80 50 35 35 3 1991 51 48 48 58 20 32 31 13 1992 42 49 45 77 11 30 29 5 1993 48 64 39 79 10 23 27 9 1994 38 48 42 73 14 15 30 15 1995 44 45 49 77 14 22 27 8 1996 42 49 43 66 10 20 14 8 1997 30 32 16 43 19 21 12 9 1998 24 24 0 31 14 20 32 0

Means 1993-97 40 48 38 68 13 20 22 10 1988-97 47 50 43 76 32 29 31 14

• Commercial fisheries on the Ponoi were closed in 1993 and catch-and-released rod fishing was introduced, since that estimate based on mark-recapture estimate 7

Table 4. Wild adult counts to various rivers in Russia. (Total trap).

Barents sea basin White sea basin Karelia Year B.Z.Litsa Ura Tuloma Kola Ponoi* Kitsa Varzuga Umba Keret

1952 6040 1953 4230 1954 5780 1955 5960 4855 1956 6360 2176 1957 5360 2949 1958 1051 983 7110 1771 1959 1642 997 6125 2790 1960 2915 3293 10360 5030 68876 1961 2091 2178 11050 5121 55480 1962 2196 1184 10920 5776 1884 69388 1963 1983 811 7880 3656 3431 64210 1964 1664 787 4400 3268 23666 2936 41424 1965 1506 1334 5600 3676 12998 63812 1966 787 925 3648 3218 10333 1574 21086 1967 1486 2679 9011 7170 11527 1258 20534 1968 1971 1996 6277 5008 18352 2755 47258 1969 2341 967 4538 6525 9267 2329 53048 2030 1970 2048 1792 6175 5416 9822 2171 55556 1316 1971 1502 1172 3254 4784 8523 4406 71400 288 1972 1316 1693 6554 8695 10975 1717 48858 548 1973 1319 2502 9726 9780 20553 2091 45750 2536 1974 2605 1968 12784 15419 24652 2352 39360 2692 1975 2454 3249 11074 12793 41666 6702 89836 5432 1976 1385 2110 8060 9360 44283 4310 57246 1926 1977 1595 2784 2875 7180 37159 4166 35354 3692 1978 766 1358 3742 5525 24045 2047 18482 3308 1979 700 888 2887 6281 17920 2838 40992 3772 1980 548 957 4087 7265 15069 1073 43664 5924 1981 477 438 3467 7131 11670 2173 32158 6252 1982 889 1205 4254 5898 9585 1953 26824 8690 1983 1254 2108 9102 10643 15594 1712 59784 7850 1984 1859 4458 10971 10970 26330 3372 39636 6326 1985 1563 2634 8067 6163 38787 5123 48566 12190 1986 1815 2474 7074 6508 32266 3240 71562 8568 3230 1987 1498 1788 5470 6300 21212 3495 137419 10040 3427 1988 574 1252 6069 5203 20620 3667 72528 8455 3294 1989 2614 2434 8413 10929 19214 1305 71054 12029 3531 1990 1194 1558 11594 13383 37712 2299 56000 9040 2520 1991 2081 1328 7253 8500 21000 988 63000 6400 690 1992 2755 3391 5377 14670 26600 2619 61360 8400 536 1993 2267 1972 4516 11400 26800 674 68300 8500 687 1994 2100 1738 3316 9730 28600 487 77800 6800 753 1995 1916 1461 4737 6051 33100 700 58750 7340 1066 1996 2330 1171 4424 7700 32600 976 67900 6450 391 1997 1350 2028 4405 6180 32685 1076 73430 6200 180 1998 1510 1100 3338 4848 41786 1031 83050 6440 607

Means 1993-97 1 993 1 674 4280 8212 30757 783 69236 7058 615 1988-97 2069 1 943 6344 9859 32072 1 582 75317 8605 1 426

'since 1994 estimate based on mark-recapture estimate 8

Table 5. Preliminary estimate of conservation limits for Kola salmon rivers (Russia)

Barents sea basin Inl2ut l2arameters used: B.Z.Litsa and Ura S\R derived MBAl referenced to catchment area (eggs/km2) 2100 referenced to nursery area (eggs/m2) 2,73 fecundity (eggs/fish) 9500 sex ratio (F:M) 1:1,5 % Grilse 65

Catchm't Nursery MSYeggs MSY % Total fish Grilse MSW No River area (km2) area (ha) (million) Females Grilse target target target

1 Pechenga 1828,9 3,84 404 68 1011 687 323 2 Eina -100 0,20 21 53 34 18 3 Moche -100 0,20 21 53 34 18 4 Tipakovka -100 0,20 21 53 34 18 5 Anikeeva 58 0,12 13 32 21 11 6 Titovka 1226,3 2,58 272 679 441 238 7 *B.Z.Litsa 1687,9 124,704 3,41 359 64 787 504 283 8 M.Z.Litsa 126,1 0,26 27 68 44 24 9 Uritsa 106,5 0,22 23 58 38 20 10 *Ura 1029,5 2,17 228 65 563 366 197 11 Saida -100 0,20 21 53 34 18 12 Belokamenka . 85 0,18 19 47 31 17 13 Kulonga -100 0,20 21 53 34 18 14 *Tuloma 18231,5 11,65 1353. 60 3383 2030 1353 15 **Kola 3845,6 217 5,92 623 61 1558 950 608 16 Vaenga 142,8 0,30 32 79 51 28 17 Srednaja 567,4 1,19 125 313 204 110 18 Tuva 351 0,74 78 195 127 68 19 M.Tuva 119,9 0,25 26 66 43 23 20 Zarubicha 181,3 0,38 40 100 65 35 21 Tipunkova 186,9 0,39 41 103 67 36 22 Klimkovka 183,8 0,38 40 100 65 35 23 Dolgaja 92,8 0,19 20 50 33 18 24 Muchka 192,1 0,40 42 105 68 37 25 Belousicha 186,4 0,39 41 103 67 36 26 Olenka 490,6 1,03 108 271 176 95 27 Zarubicha 72,2 0,15 16 39 26 14 28 Trjaschina 129,4 0,27 28 71 46 25 29 Rynda 1018,5 2,14 225 563 366 197 30 Zolotaja 212,8 0,45 47 118 77 41 31 Chegodaevkc 1'45 0,30 32 79 51 28 32 Kharlovka 2016,3 4,23 445 1113 724 390 33 V.Litsa 1872,4 3,93 414 1034 672 362 34 **Sidorovka 335 27,80 0,76 80 200 130 70 35 **Varzina 1456 85,00 2,32 244 611 397 214 36 **Penka 290,6 15,10 0,41 43 108 70 38 37 Drozdovka 468 0,98 103 258 168 90 38 Chernaja 103,8 0,22 23 58 38 20 39 Ivanovka 135,2 0,28 29 74 48 26 40 Savicha 207,2 0,44 46 116 75 41 41 **Iokanga 5944,2 257,4 7,03 740 62 1850 1147 703 42 Kachalovka 63 0,13 14 34 22 12 61,03 6551 16259 10304 5955 * S\R derived MBAl **referenced to nursery area 9

Table 5.(cont'd) Preliminary estimate of conservation limits for Kola salmon rivers (Russia)

White sea basin InQut Qarameters used: Varzuga and Kitsa S\R derived MBAL referenced to catchment area (eggs/km2) 4100 referenced to nursery area (eggs/m2) 3,85 fecundity (eggs/fish) 4700 sex ratio (F:M) 1:1 % Grilse 80

Catchm't Nursery MSYeggs MSY % Total fish Grilse MSW No River area (km2) area (ha) (million) Females Grilse target target target

43 Zapadnaja 169,2 0,36 65 65 130 85 46 44 Chernaja 232,8 0,49 89 65 178 116 62 45 Lumbovka 1038,8 2,18 396 65 792 515 277 46 Kamenka 482,9 1,01 184 65 368 239 129 47 Peschanka 158,2 0,33 60 65 120 78 42 48 Kachkovka 842,6 1,77 322 70 644 451 193 49 Orlovka 256,3 0,54 98 70 196 137 59 50 Ponoi 15467,1 32,91 5984 72 11968 8617 3351 51 Danilovka 262,2 0,55 100 200 160 40 52 Glubokaja 169,3 0,36 65 130 104 26 53 **Snegnitsa 235,5 4,83 0,18 38 77 61 15 54 **Sosnovka 582 6,15 0,24 51 102 82 20 55 Glubokaja 152,4 0,62 132 264 211 53 56 **Babja 348,3 43,18 1,66 353 706 565 141 57 **Uchodeevka 307,8 10,00 0,38 81 162 129 32 58 **Pulonga 733,5 20,13 0,78 166 332 266 66 59 B.Kumgevaja 148,7 0,61 130 260 208 52 60 **Ust-Pjalka 261 19,61 0,75 160 319 255 64 61 **Pjalitsa 946,3 28,96 1,11 236 472 378 94 62 **Chapoma 1106,6 19,14 0,74 157 315 252 63 63 **Jugina 206,8 15,50 0,60 128 255 204 51 64 **Strelna 2774,1 280,00 10,78 2294 4587 3670 917 65 Kamenka 315,4 1,29 274 549 439 110 66 **Chavanga 1212,1 54,53 2,10 447 894 715 179 67 Indera 284,6 1,17 249 498 398 100 68 *Varzuga 9836 1218,50 46,95 9989 85 19979 16982 2997 69 *Kitsa 1645,5 5,63 1198 85 2396 2036 359 70 Salnitsa 119,5 0,49 104 209 167 42 71 Olenitsa 402,8 1,65 351 702 562 140 72 Khlebnaja 261,2 1,07 228 455 364 91 73 Kuzreka 254,5 1,04 221 443 354 89 74 Chernaja 102,5 0,42 89 179 143 36 75 **Umba 6248,5 447,78 17,24 3134 70 6268 4388 1880 76 Pila 322,9 1,32 281 562 449 112 77 **Porja 233,7 3,95 0,15 32 64 51 13 78 Rjazanka 101,6 0,42 89 179 143 36 79 **Kolvitsa 1309,8 15,67 0,60 128 255 204 51 80 **Luvenga 202 13,97 0,54 115 230 184 46 141,03 28218 56437 44362 12075 * S\R derived MBAL **referenced to nursery area 2100 eggs/km2 catchm't area was used for rivers # 43-52 5500 eggs/female was used for rivers # 43-52 and 75