The first quarter of the year was very productive for WWF in . One piece of news that just broke recently is that the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study will take place in Kamchatka. This is great news and a success for WWF. This presents a great responsibility for WWF as Kamchatka will become the first region in , where TEEB study principles will be implemented. Kamchatka’s experience should become a pattern Sergey Rafanov, for other territories of the country. the head of the Kamchatka Bering Sea In order to sustain environmentally sound production, healthy, functioning ecosystems are Ecoregional Office of utmost importance. Think about fisheries, for example. If people value having fish and seafood from Kamchatka, they are also valuing the healthy ecosystems and ecologically pristine environments that sustain those fish. The economic valuation of ecosystem services can help to prepare various regions of Russia to be compensated for their ecological value.

Another piece of breaking news is that a draft law, which would ban driftnet fishing in Russia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ), has passed the first reading in the State Duma (the Lower Chamber of the Russian Parliament) and received strong approval by the Government. However, the proposed change hasn’t become a law yet, as it remains in the Duma for further discussion. We wait with our fingers crossed for the next two readings of the draft law. At the same time, public hearings in Kamchatka regarding the total allowable catch (TAC) of salmon for the next year

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 2 turned out to be a confrontation between those who support driftnet fishing and those who demand its complete ban.

The public attitude towards driftnet fishing isn’t any less important than the official position on the matter. WWF-Russia works to inform the public’s understanding and opinion of this dangerous and unsustainable fishing method, and we welcome your support to encourage an informed attitude worldwide.

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 3

CONTENTS:

Kamchatka fishermen are against driftnet fishing 5

A long way to sustainability 6

Field guide for fishermen and observers 7

TEEB study 7

Russian Federal Fishery Agency welcomes public inspectors 8

The joint project is going on 9

The USA scientists at Kamchatka university 10

Memorandum of Understanding 10

Looking forward 11

Public hearings related to Total Allowable Catch (TAC) of salmon in 2016 took place in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in April. The most controversial issue, as expected, was driftnet fishing. WWF-Russia presented its opinion at the hearings too. For the last five years, TAC for the driftnet fishing fleet has remained unchanged – 9,800 metric tons of sockeye. Driftnet fishing vessels work at full throttle regardless of what happens at salmon

spawning grounds, and at that point their Russia

- fishing cannot be stopped by any legislative / WWF / means. And there is no environmental impact assessment (EIA) on driftnet

Sergey Vakhrin Sergey fishing. The scientists who generate

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forecasts on salmon runs from the All- Russia Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) don’t take into account the problem of sea birds and marine mammals, thousands of which are killed annually by drifting nets. Estimated value of environmental damage is 300 million rubles. At the same time, the specialists from VNIRO made an attempt to ease pressures on the East Kamchatka population by setting the opening date of the driftnet fishing season to June 10. Also, they also suggested that the TAC for driftnet fishing vessels in the next year will be divided equally between Eastern and Western Kamchatka. All the material from the public hearings will be sent to the State Environmental Expert Panel, which will make the final decision on the TAC for the next year. More info: http://wwf.ru/resources/news/article/eng/13350

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 5

Two Kamchatka salmon fisheries have begun the Marine Stewardship Council’s (MSC) full assessment process. The pink, chum, and fishing operations of ‘Vityaz- Avto’ and ‘Delta’ fishing companies will be assessed by the independent certifier MRAG Americas. The assessment for MSC certification will take one year. WWF- Russia participates as a stakeholder in the process. In 2012 Vityaz-Avto and Delta were the first companies in Kamchatka to receive MSC certification for sockeye salmon

fishing operations on the Ozernaya River. Avto, Ltd.’ Avto,

- WWF-Russia also plans to engage salmon

‘Vityaz scientists in work on the Bolshaya,

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Vorovskaya, Opala and Rivers and its salmon stocks assessment. The research will be publically available and will aid MSC certification of additional salmon harvesting companies. WWF-Russia encourages regional salmon management scientists and authorities to develop Integrated Management Plans for the key Kamchatka salmon watersheds. The plans should be focused on target and limit reference points and optimum escapement goals that are consistent with maintaining the inherent diversity and reproductive capacity of salmon stocks as well as contribute to a program on conserving king salmon.

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 6

A new field guide is currently being prepared for publication. The handbook by Yury Artyukhin is called “Sea birds of the Russian Far East in the longline fishery: field guide and methods of by-catch reduction”. While it’s aimed primarily at fishermen and observers on board of fishing vessels, as the main topic of the book is how to identify sea birds that are becoming victims of the longline fishery, it can also be useful to a wide circle of readers: ecologists,

nature and fishery conservationists, biology Russia

- teachers, students and schoolchildren, / WWF / naturalists. The author gives a thorough analysis of ways to reduce occasional by-

Yury Artyukhin Yury catch, describes means of by-catch

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reduction, gives recommendations and technical data on making and using streamers as one method to reduce by-catch. The book includes a number of short passages on each bird species, which are often seen in the North-Pacific during trawls and longline fishing. Every written description is followed by illustrations and a map of each species’ range. Once the book has been published, WWF-Russia and Pacific Institute of Geography plan to conduct several workshops for vessel captains regarding the problems of sea birds by-catch and the use of streamers.

Kamchatka will become the first region in Russia where a TEEB study is implemented. Russia’s minister of Natural Resources and Ecology Sergey Donskoy officially supported the evaluation of ecosystem services on the peninsula during his meeting with the executive director of UNEP Achim Steiner. The minister highlights that the proposal to work on a TEEB study in Kamchatka is one of the priorities in the historic document to be signed between the Government of the Russian Federation and UNEP. According Minister Donskoy, the complex economic valuation of ecosystem services and biodiversity of Kamchatka region, based on TEEB principles, will help to make the most successful scenarios of regional economic, ecological and social development.

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 7

Prior years’ experiences have shown poor cooperation between the public and official inspectors of the Russian Federal Fishery Agency. During the fishing season this year all public inspectors will sign a contract with the Norh- East Territorial Directorate of the Russian Federal Fishery Agency (RFFA) and receive official inspector identification cards. Raid and compliance measures will also be officially scheduled. In 2014, there were 21 public inspectors working on the rivers of Kamchatka. In

cooperation with officials, they took part in

173 anti-poaching operations and detected Russia

- 191 law violations. But the number of / WWF / public inspectors remains too low for the

rate of poaching on Kamchatka rivers.

Yury Kislyak Yury © ©

The RFFA plans to increase the number of

volunteers by getting students of the Kamchatka State Technical University involved as part of their training. Public inspectors will have a chance to learn to drive a quad-bike and a snowmobile, as well as to operate a motor boat. The increasing number of public inspector works to achieve two goals. First of all, public inspectors are a permanent disturbance for poacher on the rivers, thereby acting as a direct obstacle to the act of poaching. And, at the same time, public inspectors can help reduce the corruption level of officials. For three years now, WWF-Russia together with other NGOs has been supporting public inspectors on the Bolshaya River and plans to continue cooperation during the fishing season of this year as well.

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 8

The joint project of WWF-Russia and Citi Foundation has been prolonged for another year. The project is aimed at improving the socio- economic environment and living conditions in remote villages by creating new legal jobs as an alternative to grey- and black-market jobs, like poaching. It intends to create economic instruments to involve local residents and decision-makers into biodiversity conservation and sustainable

nature resource consumption. Russia - The total program budget of $250,000 will

/ WWF / be split between the Altai and Kamchatka

regions, of which $110,000 will be spent to Kislyak

Yury Yury support entrepreneurs from the Kamchatka

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peninsula. One result of the project will be for about 40 residents to receive training on different entrepreneurship topics, Some of the currently planned topics are: • legal issues of business management • taxation • environmental components of entrepreneurship • technical regulations and certifications; and others. Also, a Kamchatka Association of Non-timber Forest Products (NTFP) producers will be created. The Association will support the development of non-timber forest products on the by marketing, conducting business-plan competitions, providing financial support of winners, and encouraging the development of production facilities, etc. The Kamchatka Association of NTFP will eventually help to manage the production of non-timber forest products throughout the region. According to the logic of previous years’ project experiences, NTFP- producers from Kamchatka need marketing support to make their products recognizable in regional and national markets, thereby increasing demand for these products. A new branding scheme must be developed in order to make this process easier.

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 9

For the third year in a row, WWF-Russia has helped Kamchatka State Technical University (KSTU) organize a workshop seminar, conducted by foreign scientists. These spring events have already become a tradition and are highly anticipated by KSTU faculty and students, as well as many local scientists and policy makers. Two scientists from the University of Washington in Seattle and a professor from the University of Alaska Fairbanks visited

Kamchatka this year. The three-day Russia - seminar was entitled “Salmon and the

/ WWF / Environment: preparing for the challenges

of climate change and regional

Yury Kislyak Yury development”. The seminar addressed the

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issues of ecology in general and also geo- thermal energy, climate change, volcanic activity, salmon genetics, and salmon ecosystem valuation, in particular.

More info: http://wwf.ru/resources/news/article/eng/13276

Another event of the workshop was a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Kamchatka State Technical University (KSTU) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). According to the document, both universities recognize the desirability of increased international exchange and agreed to foster an exchange of information and scholars, and to collaborate on research topics of mutual interest. This

document is the first step to developing Russia - student exchange programs, which could

/ WWF / definitely help both universities in research

projects of mutual interest, particularly

Yury Kislyak Yury related to salmon research.

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WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 10

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Yury Kislyak

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WWF - The natural world of Kamchatka needs our help, Russia

probably, now more than ever. Rapid expansion of mining in Kamchatka region puts at risk the viability of the renewable resources that local communities have depended on for generations. Driftnet fishing in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Russia may have serious adverse environmental and economic consequences. The West Kamchatka shelf is at risk of oil and gas development in the near future. We need your support to withstand these and many other environmental threats in Kamchatka. Please get involved too. http://www.wwf.ru/help_us

Special thanks to our salmon conservation partners: Wild Salmon Center and Pacific Environment, with whom we work to leverage collaboration between the Russian government, private sector, and local communities for conserving wild salmon ecosystems on Kamchatka! With support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Citi Foundation, WWF-Russia supports sustainable fishery and the economic development of the region, which should be ecologically sustainable.

A WWF-Russia production Designed and edited by Yuriy Kislyak

With sincere thanks to John Simeone April, 2015

WWF-Russia Kamchatka Office Quarterly Review page 11

WWF

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Russia. KamchatkaEcoregional Office. Quarterly review.

2 salmon fisheries in Kamchatka have begun the MSC full assessment process

40 residents of remote villages will take part in business training this year

April

, 201

5 5

127 students and faculty

visited the annual workshop at KSTU

COVER

300 million rubles IMAGE: ©

WWW.WWF.RU is annual environmental damage of driftnet fishing in EEZ of Russia

Yury Artyukhin