VZCZCXRO2192
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDBU RUEHFK RUEHHM RUEHKSO RUEHLN RUEHNAG RUEHPB RUEHPOD
RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0044/01 0980806
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 080806Z APR 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1116
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1219

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VLADIVOSTOK 000044 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SENV ENRG RS
SUBJECT: SAKHALIN'S PAPER FISH PROBLEM 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000044  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Econ Officer met with Environmental activist Dmitriy 
Lisitsyn of Ecological Sakhalin Watch to discuss environmental 
problems on the island, the effect of oil and gas projects on 
wildlife, the use of "paper fish" by poachers to circumvent fish 
quotas, and even some environmental improvements that have 
occurred on the island. 
 
Some Polluting Industries Now Defunct 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  Ecological Sakhalin Watch Director Dmitriy Lisitsyn 
discussed several aspects of his work with Econ Officer during 
their meeting, starting off with some promising developments on 
Sakhalin.  He mentioned that there have been some improvements 
in certain aspects of the environment in the area, though he 
considered them a result of an unfavorable economic situation 
rather than of extensive conservation efforts. 
 
¶3.  For example, Lisitsyn pointed out that for about fifty 
years, Sakhalin hosted ten paper mills which the Japanese had 
built on the island during their wartime occupation.  The Soviet 
government took the mills over after the war and continued to 
use them through the 80's and 90's.  The new owners never 
upgraded them, and the industry was a major source of pollution. 
 As the mills became less economically viable, they eventually 
closed.  With no more working paper mills, a major source of 
pollution has been eliminated. 
 
¶4.  Logging on the island has also mostly disappeared.  There is 
little effort to revive logging operations, since most of the 
trees on the island -- mainly spruce, fir, larch, and birch -- 
are varieties with relatively little commercial appeal. 
Particularly valuable oak and ash, which fetch three times the 
price of spruce, do not exist on the island.  There had been 
some interest by Japanese companies looking into harvesting 
spruce, which is popular as a building material in Hokkaido, but 
projects were deemed unprofitable because of remote and steep 
locations and lack of large, contiguous forests. 
 
Paper Fish: How to Legitimize Illegal Catch 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Though economic incentives for environmentally-destructive 
logging and paper production on the island have faded, salmon 
poaching continues to be a significant problem.  On Kamchatka, 
NGOs estimate that the illegal salmon catch is 70% the level of 
legitimate catch -- the quota is 100,000 tons, though 170,000 
tons are thought to be caught each year.  For the more rare and 
valuable King, Silver, and Sockeye salmon varieties, the illicit 
catch is estimated to be three times higher than the quota. 
 
¶6.  According to Lisistyn, companies have developed a way to 
'legalize' poached fish with falsified documentation.  Licensed 
suppliers of salmon, who legally catch their fish at sea using 
stationary nets, often are unable to fulfill their total 
allotted quotas.  For a small fee, the supplier agrees with the 
buyer to provide documents showing that the entire quota was 
handed over.  To fill out the remainder, the supplier then turns 
these paper fish into real fish by buying less-expensive, 
illegal fish from poachers who obtained their catch from 
spawning grounds.   That way both buyer and seller are able to 
maximize profits and appear in conformity with regulations.  As 
a result of the practice, spawning grounds are nearing 
depletion.  The irony of the system is that if poaching were not 
so prevalent and spawning grounds were protected, then the 
increased salmon population would likely allow legitimate 
fishermen to catch their full quotas at sea. 
 
Sakhalin Energy and the Western Blue Whale 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶7.  The Sakhalin II oil and gas project involves offshore oil 
platforms and a pipeline that runs off the northeastern coast of 
Sakhalin Island near the only known feeding grounds of the 
Western Pacific Gray Whale.  Approximately 100 of the endangered 
whales remain, only 20 of which are reproductive females.  In 
discussions at Sakhalin Energy's headquarters, Press Center 
Chief Oleg Sapozhnikov told Econ Officer about the company's 
extensive project to research and monitor the animals. 
According to him, Sakhalin Energy and other companies have spent 
over USD 10 million on the research which, they say, has shown 
no discernable impact on the whales.  He proudly showed a 
dossier on the studies, which showed the name and  portrait of 
each individual whale. 
 
¶8.  Environmentalist Lisitsyn acknowledged that the company 
spends significant efforts and funds to research the grey whale, 
but asserts that concrete protection measures -- still not 
implemented by the company -- are far more important than 
research.  In his opinion, the company follows few of the 
recommendations put forth by the Western Gray Whale Advisory 
Panel, a group of independent scientists providing the company 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000044  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
advice on minimizing its operation's impact on the whales' 
habitat.  Specifically, he asserts the company has not 
sufficiently lowered the noise levels of its offshore facilities 
-- a problem that may drive the whales away from their feeding 
grounds. 
 
Environmentalist's Wish List:  No Oil Spills and Safe Spawning 
Grounds 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
----------- 
 
¶9.  As this year is the twentieth anniversary of the Exxon 
Valdez spill, Lisistyn and other Sakhalin environmentalists have 
been focusing on pushing authorities to implement oil spill 
prevention and response mechanisms.  Lisistyn's biggest fear is 
the possibility of a large oil spill that would damage salmon, 
whale, and migratory bird habitats, since current spill 
prevention measures are inadequate.  He says that Russian 
authorities could learn from Alaska, which put into place 
several safeguards to avoid another major spill.  One change he 
would like to see is increased cooperation with authorities in 
nearby Hokkaido, which has an extensive monitoring and escorting 
system for oil tankers, but is currently not authorized to 
assist Russian ships in the event of a spill and with which 
there is no formal cooperation.  He also said his other priority 
is to have authorities seriously monitor salmon spawning 
grounds, since that is where most poaching occurs. 
KOVACSICS