Russia Kunashir salmon - trap/net

Primary tabs

Overview

This FIP includes coastal trap nets, beach seines, and anchored set gillnets operated by PCF Yuzhno-Kurilsky Ryibokombinat Co., Ltd. (YKRK Co., Ltd.). Currently, the fishery is only using coastal trap nets as primary gear that capture pink and chum salmon along the coast of Kunashir Island which is administratively a part of the Sakhalin Oblast of the Far Eastern Federal Region of the Russian Federation. For management purposes, the fishery is located in the South Kuril Fishery subzone. The company was founded in 1946, reorganized in 1999, and is now a dynamically developing enterprise that has gone far beyond the coastal processing in the village of Yuzhno-Kurilsk. It is one of the largest fishing enterprises in the Sakhalin region. The catch of the company’s multiple species reaches 42,000 metric tons annually. The company owns and operates a salmon hatchery located at the Lagoonnoye Lake which began releasing juvenile chum salmon in 2018. 

In 2021, ForSea Solutions completed an MSC pre-assessment for the Kunashir fishery operated by YKRK Co., Ltd., who is interested in pursuing MSC certification. The Units of Assessment include pink and chum salmon stocks with each species considered as separate scoring elements in Principal 1. 

Strengths of the fishery include the use of selective gear and low bycatch, management that meets most requirements including low IUU activity, and strong interest to control hatchery impacts. However, the assessment identified several weaknesses that the client-company wants to focus on in this FIP including reduced escapement monitoring, low escapement levels of pink salmon in recent years, lack of hatchery marking and monitoring, insufficient ETP monitoring, and lack of responsiveness to serious issues in the fishery.  

This FIP is designed to address these issues and others identified in the pre-assessment so that the fishery can achieve MSC certification by 2026. The client-fishery is launching a comprehensive FIP on Kunashir Island with the goal to achieve MSC Certification. Launching this FIP will potentially allow the fishery-client to access new markets in North America and Europe.

FIP Description 

This FIP includes coastal trap nets, beach seines, and anchored set gillnets operated by PCF Yuzhno-Kurilsky Ryibokombinat Co., Ltd. (YKRK Co., Ltd.).

FIP Objective(s) 

By December 2026, the FIP will:

  • Improve data collection to include fishery-independent escapement monitoring
  • Develop a rebuilding plan and harvest strategy that achieves a high likelihood of maintaining pink and chum salmon escapements that meet management targets and that reduces fishing mortality when abundance is low to promote stock rebuilding
  • Implement hatchery release fry marking and use this data to assess the effects of hatchery operations on the wild stock and its contribution to catches
  • Increase ETP catch monitoring and research to ensure the fishery is not harming ETP species
  • Promote management actions that are responsive to the status of the stock
FIP Type 
Comprehensive
FIP Stage 
Stage 4: Improvements in Fishing Practices or Fishery Management
Start and Projected End Dates
August 2021
December 2026
Next Progress Report Due 
Wednesday, April 30, 2025
Species 
Common Name 
Pink Salmon
Scientific Name
Oncorhynchus gorbuscha
Buying Guide Link Image 
Pink Salmon
Buying Guide
Common Name 
Chum Salmon
Scientific Name
Oncorhynchus keta
Buying Guide Link Image 
Chum Salmon
Buying Guide
Gear Type 
Trap Net
Location
FAO Major Fishing Area
Area 61 (Pacific, Northwest)
Exclusive Economic Zones
Country 
Russian Federation (the)
Geographic Scope 
Kunashir Island, Sakhalin Oblast, Sea of Okhotsk, South Kuril (61.04) Fishery Zone
Regional Fisheries Management Organization
NPAFC
Landings
Estimated Total FIP Landings 
278 metric tons
Estimated Total Fishery Landings 
323 metric tons
Landings Date 
November 2022
PrintPDF

FIP at a Glance

View current status
August 01, 2021
14% 14% 71%
Progress Rating (A) Advanced Progress

Reserved for comprehensive FIPs that have achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within the past 12 months.

(B) Good Progress

A basic FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result within 12 months.

(C) Some Recent Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months that has never achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result but has reported a Stage 3 activity within the first 12 months.
(D) Some Past Progress
  • A FIP that has achieved a Stage 4 or 5 result in more than 12 (but less than 24) months BUT has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old AND a Stage 3 activity has been reported within six months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.
(E) Negligible Progress
  • A FIP for which the most recent Stage 4 or 5 result is more than 24 (but less than 36) months old, with no Stage 3 activity reported in the last six months.
  • A FIP younger than 12 months with no Stage 3 activity reported within 12 months.
  • A FIP 12-36 months old that has never reported a Stage 4 or 5 result AND has not reported a Stage 3 activity within the past six months.

The ratings are currently derived by SFP from publicly available data on FIP websites, including FisheryProgress.org, and are determined using the following methodology: View PDF
A Advanced Progress
Actions Complete

This pie chart represents completed environmental actions. Non-completed environmental actions may contain completed sub-tasks that are not illustrated here. For more information on environmental action progress visit the Actions Progress tab.
  • Complete
  • Incomplete
Next Update Due FisheryProgress requires a FIP to provide update reports every six months, and two missed reports will render the FIP inactive. If a report is overdue, this date will appear red.
Apr 2025
Target End Date
Dec 2026

FIP Leads

Organization Name 
ForSea Solutions LLC
Organization Type 
Consultant
Primary Contact 
Natasha Novikova
Email 
natasha@forseasolutions.com
Phone 
19713319612
Website Name 
ForSea Solutions
FIP Identification Number The FIP Identification Number is automatically generated by FisheryProgress when a FIP profile is created. While the number itself is not meaningful, they are used by NGOs, academia, and industry to refer to FIPs in a consistent way.
16192