Parameters of the IUU fishing of coregonidae species in the Lena river (Laptev sea basin)

Abstract

The work analyzes the IUU fishing of nelma Stenodus leucichthys nelma (Pallas, 1773), muksun Coregonus muksun (Pallas, 1814), Arctic cisco C. autumnalis (Pallas, 1776) and Siberian cisco C. sardinella Valenciennes, 1848, whose commercial fishing in the Lena River makes 60 % of all commercial fishery species’ catch. IUU fishing of nelma, muksun, Arctic cisco, Siberian cisco in the Lena basin exceeds their commercial fishing (1528,8 t) twofold and makes 3104,9 t. Damage caused to Coregonidae species in the Lena River basin by the IUU fishing is estimated at RUB 2028,3 million. Control of Coregonidae species’ fishing only by setting quotas is ineffective as the decrease of quotas automatically triggers the increase of IUU fishing, including household poaching. To increase the efficiency of control over the water biological resources, it is proposed to establish a network of fish-receiving stations, controlled by the Russian Federal Agency for Fishery, which will allow to monitor the volume of the young fish bycatch and control fishing. Inaccurate information distorts the official fishery statistics, which impairs the accuracy of commercial stock prediction and requires adjustment of allowable catch with account of IUU fishing. To counter IUU fishing, it is necessary to establish a mechanism for tracking the sequence of fish products shipping to the market.