Achieving Sustainable Fisheries in Russia

The Russian Far East accounts for about 60% of the total Russian seafood production, including more than a third of the global wild catch of Pacific salmon. Yet many of the region's fisheries are considered under-developed, lacking sufficient infrastructure and processing capacity due to the area’s remoteness. While much of the habitat remains relatively intact, over-fishing, lack of adequate information and widespread illegal fishing activities threaten the sustainability of these fisheries. Several Russian fisheries have been certified against the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard, and others are currently in assessment. However, many fisheries require significant changes before they can achieve certification, or have dropped out of the MSC process for various reasons. This presentation reviews a number of Russian fishery case studies; outlines the social, technical and ecological challenges; and highlights lessons learned.