Russia's Pollock B Season Opens in the Sea of Okhotsk as National Catch Tops 1.9 Million Tonnes

Russia's Far East fleet has started the B season of the specialized pollock (Gadus chalcogrammus) trawl fishery in the Northern subarea of the Sea of Okhotsk, with operations in the West Kamchatka and Kamchatka-Kuril subareas scheduled to begin on November 1. The total allowable catch (TAC) for pollock in the Sea of Okhotsk for 2026 is set at 1.176 million tonnes, and the TAC for Pacific herring (Clupea pallasii) in the Northern and Western subareas is 426,200 tonnes.

As of October 19, the cumulative pollock catch in the Sea of Okhotsk reached 943,300 tonnes. Among the main regions, Kamchatka Krai leads with 318,000 tonnes, and its combined catch across all operating areas totals 576,100 tonnes, keeping it in overall first place; Primorsky Krai follows with 295,600 tonnes, Sakhalin Oblast with 161,200 tonnes, and Khabarovsk Krai with 124,200 tonnes. Monitoring data from the Federal Agency for Fisheries of Russia show that the cumulative catch across all fishing zones nationwide has exceeded 1.9 million tonnes, up 40,500 tonnes year on year.

This catch momentum is consistent with the industry report presented by the Russian Pollock Catchers Association (PCA) at the International Groundfish Forum. In the report, association president Alexey Buglak noted that the resource biomass remains stable, with the national catch reaching 2.175 million tonnes in 2025 and expected to hold at 2.2 million tonnes this year.

The end-market distribution of Russian catches has undergone a structural shift. In 2020, more than 90% of the total catch was exported; currently overseas markets absorb 70%, while total exports in raw-fish terms have held steady at around 1.5 million tonnes over the past decade. Meanwhile, Russia's domestic pollock consumption has doubled over the past five years and now accounts for one third (33.3%) of the total catch, a change attributed to structured collaboration among processors, retail chains and distributors.

On the processing side, fleet renewal under the state investment quota program and the expansion of onshore processing capacity have driven higher output of high-value products, especially fillets and frozen fish, with demand showing strong performance; in contrast, surimi production has contracted due to changed market conditions. In the previous reference period, 87% of the catch was processed at sea and 13% at onshore facilities, with 37% of the total catch converted into fillets and surimi. The association expects that, as new vessels are commissioned and processing facilities come on stream, by 2030 there will be sufficient capacity to process 50% of total landings into fillets and surimi.

Alongside the increase in processing capacity, foreign trade faces tariffs and market barriers. Data shared by Buglak show that last year at least 11 vessels did not receive EU permits and another 14 vessels were subject to EU sanctions, together accounting for 25% of the total catch. This year at least 4 more vessels have not received EU permits, bringing the share of catch restricted from the European market to 28%, and this proportion risks doubling by 2030.

On the resource side, the total allowable catch of pollock for 2027 is projected at 2.355 million tonnes, a 3% decrease from the previous cycle, with the reduction concentrated in the Sea of Okhotsk and the Western Bering Sea. The quota utilization rate is expected to remain stable at between 90% and 91%, and catches over the next three years are expected to adjust toward the long-term historical average; the catch trend after 2030 will still depend on future recruitment.

Separately, according to the December 2025 import and export statistics of the General Administration of Customs of China, under the HS codes 03036700 frozen pollock, 03047500 frozen pollock fillets and 03049400 frozen pollock meat, the export volume of pollock that month was 27,595.661 tonnes, with an export value of USD 76,831,838.0 and an average export price of USD 2,784.2 per tonne; another set of records for the same statistical period shows an export value of USD 3,057,539.0 and an average export price of USD 3,387.21 per tonne.