The protection and regeneration of fish stocks and the regulation of fishing: Problems and solutions

Vladimir IZMAILOV,

Head of the Central Department for the Protection and Regeneration of Fish Stocks and for the Regulation of Fishing.

Fish poaching, especially of such lucrative fish as sturgeon, salmon, and whitefish, has become widespread in certain regions of Russia. Well equipped and well armed, poachers will stop at nothing.

Seven fishing service workers, 13 inspectors were killed and several dozens were seriously injured. The major weakness of the state's fish protection agencies lies in their inability to prosecute poachers. The situation is especially serious in the areas under the control of the Northern- and Western-Caspian Fish Departments and the Tsimlyansk, Lower-Volga and Amur Departments.

Soviet fishing legislation is out­dated or has lapsed, and laws have not been updated or replaced. There are still no laws on fishing on Russia's exclusive economic zone, its continental shelf, its inland-sea and territorial waters and contiguous zones.

Crime is rising, and the weapons that fish inspectors are authorized to carry leave them effectively defenseless when confronted by well-organized and well-armed groups of poachers in remote areas. Recently passed gun-control legislation is insufficient: it is vital that a government resolution be implemented to allow fish inspectors to use special arms and means of defense.

In 2004, spot checks of 9,255 Russian fishing boats operating in the country's territorial waters revealed 1,199 violations. Fines collected during that period, together with the total value of confiscated fish, amounted to 2.1 trillion rubles.

There were substantial improvements in the protection of Russia's exclusive economic zone. Introduction of sea-based checkpoints (of which there are now four), as well the placing of Russian fishing inspectors aboard foreign fishing and processing ships, has been effective. Control over foreign fishing vessels operating in Russian waters was tightened. For the second year in a row, Operation Putina (Fishing Season) yielded positive results.

The situation with migratory fish in the Volga basin has improved as a result of recent high waters. Until then, sturgeon catches had been declining rapidly, from 3,200 tonnes in 1983 to 2,000 tonnes in 2004.

In the Volga, the natural supply of food for fish has declined by a factor of 2–4, and yields of freshwater fish have decreased by a factor of 30 compared to the period before the river was dammed for hydroelectric purposes. White sturgeon and vimba have virtual­ly disappeared.

It is imperative that Russia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran sign a treaty on the preservation and rational use of the Caspian's aquatic resources. Putting together such a treaty must take priority over concluding other international agreements, including those on water and mineral resources of the Caspian Sea, its seafloor and coastal zones. The president and government of the Russian Federation, as well as the Russian State Fisheries Committee, have repeatedly proposed such a treaty, but, unfortunately, the other Caspian states have shown little interest.