The total allowable catch (TOC) of herring for the West Kamchatka subzone for 2026 was set at 47.6 thousand tons. Before the start of fishing, specialists from the Magadan branch of the SSC RF "All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography" (VNIRO) prepared recommendations for the upcoming herring harvest.
The entire permitted fishing period of the Gizhiginsk-Kamchatka herring was accompanied by an experienced ichthyologist from the Magadan branch, Sergey Shershenkov, who monitored herring production on a fishing vessel.
"During the herring season, our employee carried out daily observations of the fishing situation, the composition of herring catches and by-catch objects, significant material was collected on the size, age, weight and sex characteristics of herring, the rate of its maturation and readiness for spawning. Data from trawl catches on other representatives of aquatic biological resources of the northeastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk were obtained. In total, biological information was collected on more than 5 thousand specimens. herring and fish by–catch," commented Evgeny Metelev, head of the branch, "Current recommendations of industry science, combined with good weather conditions and favorable ice conditions in the herring fishing area (Shelikhov Bay), allowed fishing vessels to carry out fishing operations for Gizhiginsk-Kamchatka herring almost without interruption."
In general, the fishing situation, during the extraction of Gizhigino-Kamchatka herring in 2026, made it possible to master more than 85% of the established ODE, which amounted to 40.5 thousand tons of herring. The volume of catch this year exceeded the figures of the previous year, by almost 1 thousand tons (39.4 thousand tons in 2025).
The collected biological and commercial statistical materials will be used to prepare forecasts of the Gizhiga-Kamchatka herring population of the West Kamchatka subzone for the coming periods and optimize recommendations for the rational exploitation of stocks, which will contribute to the long-term conservation of its population, an important fishing unit of aquatic biological resources in the northeast of the Sea of Okhotsk.
VNIRO Press Service
