Russian scientists propose larger pollock quota for 2026

While a higher TAC is recommended for the main fishing zone in the Sea of Okhotsk, a sharp reduction is proposed for the Western Bering Sea zone.

A fishing vessel in the Bering Sea, with the far eastern Russian region of Chukotka in the background.Photo: Shutterstock

Evgeny Vovchenko

Correspondent

Scientists at Russia’s leading fisheries institute have recommended a pollock quota of 2.42 million metric tons for the 2026 fishing season, slightly higher than the total allowable catch (TAC) for the current year.

The recommendation by the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) has been filed for public consultation, the first step toward a final ruling on the TAC expected in the fall.

This year’s pollock TAC in Russia was set at 2.38 million metric tons after a downward revision in the Bering Sea, announced in December. The country caught a record-high 1.998 million metric tons of pollock in 2024, up 2 percent on the previous year.

For 2026, the VNIRO recommendation is split as follows:

-Sea of Okhotsk: 1.176 million metric tons (+1.8 percent versus 2025)

including the following subzones:

--Northern Sea of Okhotsk: 364,400 metric tons

--West Kamchatka: 364,400 metric tons

--Kamchatka-Kuril: 283,400 metric tons

--East Sakhalin: 163,800 metric tons

-Western Bering Sea: 627,000 metric tons (-12 percent)

-East Kamchatka: 210,400 metric tons (+19 percent)

including the following subzones:

--Karaginsky: 92,500 metric tons

--Petropavlovsk-Commander: 117,900 metric tons

-Chukchi Sea: 30,600 metric tons (unchanged)

-Chukotka: 5,600 metric tons (-28 percent)

-South Kuril: 147,000 metric tons (+4.1 percent)

-North Kuril: 147,100 metric tons (+17.9 percent)

-Sea of Japan: 77,100 metric tons (+32 percent)

including the following subzones:

--Primorye: 17,100 metric tons

--West Sakhalin: 60,000 metric tons

Approval of the TAC in Russia is a multi-stage process involving several stages of review. The public hearings will last 30 days, and a final decision will be made by the Ministry of Agriculture toward the end of the year.

Pollock is Russia’s main commercial fisheries resource. In 2024, the species accounted for 41 percent of the overall national catch.

According to the federal fisheries agency, Rosrybolovstvo, Russia’s pollock catch in the Sea of Okhotsk had reached 687,200 metric tons as of March 24, down 4.5 percent from the same point last year. Around 59 percent of the TAC in the zone had been used.