Sakhalin Region Establishes Annual Quota Procedure for Traditional Fishing; Indigenous Fishers No Longer Required to Submit Applications

The Sakhalin Region Fisheries Department issued Order No. 1-3.29-766/26 on November 2, 2026, establishing the procedure for setting annual catch quotas for traditional fishing by the region's indigenous minorities. The document was published on November 9.

The procedure is based on the provisions of federal law. Under the new arrangement, representatives of the indigenous peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East no longer need to submit applications to access aquatic biological resources; fishing activities will be organized on the basis of information from the register maintained by the Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs. At the same time, fishers must still comply with annual catch quotas, and the authority to set the quotas is vested in the regional authorities.

The Sakhalin Region Fisheries Department specified that the annual quotas will be set once a year, taking into account recommendations from a dedicated commission and in consultation with the Federal Agency for Fisheries, as required by federal law.

The commission is chaired by the head of the Sakhalin Region Fisheries Department, and its members include representatives of the Sakhalin-Kuril Territorial Administration of the Federal Agency for Fisheries, the Border Guard Administration, the branch of the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO), the Glavrybvod branch, relevant agencies safeguarding the interests of indigenous minorities, the regional department for indigenous affairs, and municipal authorities.

The document containing the annual quotas will be published on the website of the Sakhalin Region Fisheries Department.

Ivan Radchenko, head of the Sakhalin Region Fisheries Department, said that abandoning the application system marks a new stage for traditional fishing, and that the regional fisheries department will continue its work so that representatives of indigenous minorities can exercise their rights.

The region had previously secured additional funding for a major port project, the Korsakov port project.