South Korea has secured the right to catch 47,001 tonnes of pollock in Russian waters in 2011, a 201-tonne increase compared with 2010.
The country’s Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said the agreement reached in Moscow also permits South Korean boats to haul in a total of 70,966 tonnes of various fish in the New Year, a 5.3% increase from the 67,365-tonne ceiling set for 2009.
It said the quotas for cod, flounder, mackerel, blowfish and rays will stay unchanged from the year before, with the allowable haul for squid jumping 53.8% year-on-year to 10,000 tonnes. The country's herring quota was reduced marginally to 600 tonnes.
The larger quota is expected to help stabilise local prices for the fish and help generate additional earnings for local fishing vessels operating in Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the Pacific, including the west Bering Sea.
South Korea relies on the Russian EEZ to meet most of the country's demand for pollock. Its fishing quota had stood at just 20,500 tonnes in 2007, but Seoul has persistently asked Russia to increase its quota and moved to sign the illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing activities agreement that went into effect in July that can help Russia clamp down on illegal fishing activities in its waters.
The IUU obliges South Korea to provide information on Russian fishermen who operate without permission in Russia's EEZ and try to sell their catches in South Korean ports.
[Source: Yon Hap News Agency]
