Okhotsk Sea pollock "B season" trawl fishery opens; annual TAC set at 1.176 million tonnes

Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency announced on October 21 that the "B season" of the specialized trawl fishery for pollock in the Okhotsk Sea has begun. Operations in the North Okhotsk Sea subarea started in mid-October, while fishing in the West Kamchatka and Kamchatka-Kuril subareas will begin on November 1.

According to data published by the Federal Fisheries Agency, the 2026 total allowable catch (TAC) for Okhotsk Sea pollock has been set at 1.176 million tonnes; the total allowable catch for Pacific herring in the North Okhotsk Sea and West Kamchatka subareas is 426,200 tonnes.

As of October 19, the cumulative pollock catch in the Okhotsk Sea since the start of the year stood at 943,300 tonnes. Broken down by the region of the users, Kamchatka Krai caught 318,000 tonnes, Primorsky Krai 295,600 tonnes, Sakhalin Oblast 161,200 tonnes, and Khabarovsk Krai 124,200 tonnes.

Across all fishing areas in Russia, Kamchatka Krai ranks first among federal subjects in pollock catch, with a total of 576,100 tonnes.

Data from the Federal Fisheries Agency's industry monitoring system show that since the start of the year, the cumulative pollock catch across all Russian fishing areas has exceeded 1.9 million tonnes, 40,500 tonnes more than in the same period last year.

The Federal Fisheries Agency also said that vessels and processing plants newly built under the investment quota program are expanding production capacity for fillets and other high-value-added products, and domestic market demand is also strengthening. According to estimates by the All-Russian Pollock Catchers Association, Russian domestic pollock consumption has doubled over the past five years.