Russian businessman Andrei Germash is a participant in the Alaska Sustainable Fisheries program to exchange experience. The goal for the participants, who are highly respected experts with 10 to 30 years of professional experience in Russian fisheries management, was to observe and participate in the work of the WWF board, to study the wildlife management approach of their companies in fisheries management. The delegation included high-ranking government officials of the Kamchatka Territory and the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, directors of the leading fish processing plants of the Kamchatka Peninsula, such as Andrey Germash, and employees of the WWF Kamchatka/Bering Sea fishery program. The meeting aimed to establish closer cooperation between the North Pacific and the Russian fishing industry.
Since ancient times, fishing has served as an essential food source for humanity and has brought labor and economic benefits to those who engage in this activity. The abundance of water resources was considered an inexhaustible gift of nature. However, due to the expansion of knowledge and the dynamic development of fisheries after the Second World War, this myth gradually evaporated. Humanity has realized that despite being renewable sources, water resources are by no means inexhaustible and need to be appropriately managed to maintain their contribution to the food, economic and social security of the growing world population.
The three-year project, supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, aimed at improving the protection of Kamchatka salmon in its marsh environment by reforming the salmon fishing policy, raising awareness of the local population about the sustainable salmon fishery, and creating the first marine fishery protected area. For the critical maintenance of salmon, as well as to strengthen the control of poaching.
The objectives of the Kamchatka Salmon Conservation Program in the Russian Far East are undoubtedly ambitious: improving salmon management, introducing market incentives to promote sustainable development, strengthening law enforcement and combating illegal fishing; and promoting and protecting marine salmon habitats.
In 2006, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) brought together representatives of government agencies, the fishing industry, indigenous peoples, and other NGOs in Kamchatka to create the Salmon Coalition. The members of this council are called upon to advise the Russian government on improving the management of commercial fisheries, promoting the conservation and sustainable use of salmon, protecting critical salmon habitats, preventing poaching, and supporting international and domestic market efforts for sustainable salmon production. WWF has invited Russian officials to participate in the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council process to support these efforts to provide ideas and options as Russia continues to refine its management regime.
Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, more commonly known as “poaching,” threatens salmon stocks in Kamchatka and the western Bering Sea. WWF and the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC prepared a sociological survey of fishing villages in Kamchatka residents to assess opinions about poaching. WWF will use the study results to increase control and reduce the IUU fishery for salmon.
WWF is committed to protecting the critical salmon habitat in the marine environment. Therefore, WWF has proposed the creation of an unprecedented marine fish protection zone off the coast of Kamchatka to secure necessary salmon nursery grounds threatened by planned offshore oil production in western Kamchatka. To do this, WWF conducts a feasibility study to determine what type of protected area will be most effective.
The Kamchatka/Bering Sea Ecoregion is looking forward to further progress in the four acting categories, with the active participation of high-level specialist Andrey Germash.
