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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
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INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZU/ASIAN PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION COLLECTIVE
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RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1261

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VLADIVOSTOK 000067 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON SENV RS
SUBJECT: WALLS OF DEATH: KAMCHATKA FIGHTS DRIFTNETS 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000067  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  Summary.  Russia is one of few countries that still allow 
driftnet fishing in its coastal ocean waters.  Most countries 
have already banned the nets, referred to by environmentalists 
"walls of death."  A proposal by the Federal Fisheries Agency to 
ban the practice in Russian waters has stirred up debate, 
pitting Kamchatka fishermen, indigenous groups, and 
environmental groups in support of a ban, against industry 
groups who hope to see the practice continued. 
 
Walls of Death Harm Aquatic Wildlife 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  The United Nations passed Resolution 46/215 in December 1991 
urging the ban of large-scale driftnet fishing and in 1992 
several countries -- including Russia, the US, Canada, and Japan 
-- signed the Convention on the Conservation of Anadromous Fish 
Resources in the Northern Pacific agreeing to implement the ban. 
 Detractors of the practice refer to driftnets as "walls of 
death" which stretch several kilometers and become barriers for 
all species of migrating fish.  As a result, the nets catch a 
significant amount of unwanted by-catch, including mammals and 
birds.  These commercially unprofitable animals are thrown dead 
back into the water.  Kamchatka fishermen, indigenous groups, 
the World Wildlife Fund, and other NGOs have been pressing for a 
ban on the practice because, they say, it will lead to the 
depletion of Pacific Salmon species, and interferes with local, 
more sustainable methods of salmon fishing. 
 
Coastal Fishing Vital to Indigenous Economy 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  Salmon fishing is an important traditional business in the 
Russian Far East, especially in Kamchatka, and over one quarter 
of all Pacific salmon (Pink, Chum, Sockeye, Chinook and Coho 
Salmon) come from the ocean to the rivers of Kamchatka for 
reproduction. A significant proportion of the indigenous people 
of the area rely on coastal fishing as their main source of 
income.  Russian Far East residents traditionally catch salmon 
at the mouths of rivers.  Their operations are small-scale, and 
are considered by environmentalists to be more sustainable. 
 
¶4.  Commercial driftnet businesses, on the other hand, tend to 
harvest fish at sea before they are able to reproduce, catch 
larger quantities, and discard at least 60 thousand tons of 
dead, unwanted by-catch annually.  Russian driftnet fishers tend 
to focus on the most valuable species of salmon, the Sockeye, 
which fetches USD 100 per kilo at markets in Japan.  Less 
valuable fish such as Pink and Chum salmon, which make up about 
80 percent of the catch are thrown overboard dead.  Many 
observers also allege the widespread practices of hidden catch, 
unreported discharge, and bribery of on-board inspectors. 
 
Duma Rejects Ban 
---------------- 
 
¶5.  In order to keep salmon stocks viable, Kamchatka fishermen, 
indigenous groups, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), NGOs, and 
representatives of regional legislative and executive 
authorities formed the "Save the Salmon Together" Coalition, 
which has been pushing for a federal ban on salmon driftnet 
fishing in the Russia's exclusive economic zone (EEZ) for over a 
decade.  Earlier this year, their efforts appeared to have paid 
off when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin tasked the Director of 
the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency, the Minister of Natural 
Resources and Environment, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs 
to prepare documents outlining the implementation of a total ban 
on driftnets in Russian waters.  The effort made it all the way 
to the Russian National Duma, which eventually rejected the bill 
in late May, saying "this decision will negatively affect the 
social and economic situation in the Russian Far East." 
 
Large Quotas Allotted to Japan 
------------------------------ 
 
¶6.  In late April, Federal Fisheries Agency Director Andrei 
Krainiy announced his agency will issue 18,380 tons salmon 
quotas for fishing in Russia's EEZ to Russian and Japanese drift 
netters.  The quota includes 11,300 tons (including 6,815 tons 
of sockeye) for Russian companies and 200 tons for scientific 
research.  Thirty-one Japanese fishing companies are permitted 
to catch 3,000 tons of sockeye and 3,880 tons of other salmon. 
The Japanese companies reportedly paid 2.1 billion Japanese Yen 
(USD 22.1 million) for the rights, which were agreed upon during 
the 25th session of the Russian-Japanese Fisheries Committee in 
mid-April. 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000067  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
¶7.  All Japanese fishing boats are required to have a Russian 
government inspector and those involved in scientific programs 
must have a Russian researcher on board.  The Japanese ships are 
permitted only within certain areas of the Russian EEZ and are 
subject to time limits.  In the fishing zone, Federal Border 
Guard Service patrol boats conduct inspections on the Japanese 
boats, which are also inspected before exiting the Russian 
waters and again in Japanese ports, where Russian observers 
check catch volumes. 
 
¶8.  Despite PM Putin's attitude towards the issue, officials 
from the Federal Ministry of Fisheries, Ministry of Natural 
Resources, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other agencies are 
reportedly strongly in favor of allowing further driftnet 
fishing in Russian waters by both local and foreign - mostly 
Japanese - vessels.  A special committee chaired by Vice Premier 
Victor Zubkov is currently working on developing guidelines for 
an auction of ten-year quotas for commercial salmon driftnet 
fishing in Russia's EEZ. 
 
Powerful Driftnet Lobby Group Has Strong Voice 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶9.  WWF specialist Konstantin Zgurovskiy suspects that continued 
support for the practice is the result of the strong lobby by 
the Association of Driftnet Fishing Companies.  The well-funded, 
Moscow-based association has been trying to promulgate the view 
that a ban would serve no scientific, economical and ecological 
benefit.  It was established five years ago to conduct 
scientific research, to monitor salmon stocks, and to give 
recommendations to fishing companies on potential volumes of 
catches, though it now appears to be simply be a lobbying group 
for the industry. 
 
¶10.  Only thirteen of the group's sixteen member companies are 
based in Western Russia with no long-term economic interest in 
the Russian Far East.  The chair of the association is Yevgeniya 
Mironova, a Japanese citizen who married a Russian and Russified 
her name and is a close friend of the deputy director of the 
Federal Fisheries Agency Valeriy Kholodov.  The largest portion 
of the Russian driftnet fleet belongs to Ivar Grunbergs, a 
Russian Lithuanian residing in Japan.  The association recently 
pressed President Dmitriy Medvedev to scuttle the driftnet ban 
saying, ironically, that "environmentalists fighting against 
driftnet use whip up hysteria around it and are supported by 
various foreign agencies." 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11.  Confrontation between driftnet fishers and residents of 
Kamchatka on driftnet fishing is growing, and the Kremlin will 
be the arbiter.  Though some in Moscow are in support of a ban, 
powerful business interests may still win out.  The upcoming 
International Fishery Congress, which will be held in 
Vladivostok in early September, will keep the question in the 
forefront.  Kamchatka residents, who rely on coastal salmon 
fishing are seeing the issue as yet another Kremlin decision 
that protects Moscow's interests but is harmful to residents of 
the Far East.  There is room for cooperation on this issue with 
the U.S., should Moscow be so inclined -- the American Coast 
Guard regularly conducts joint operations with Russian Border 
Guards.  The Coast Guard briefed CG last year in Anchorage and 
showed pictures of a Chinese drift net trawler that was found 
illegally fishing in international waters.  US and Russian 
forces took action and detained the trawler.  The issue of 
by-catch is a global problem, but is significantly intensified 
by the use of drift nets.  If Russia is to certify its catch as 
"sustainable," something more and more consumers are demanding, 
it will have to get out of the drift net business sooner or 
later. 
ARMBRUSTER