Fish yield off the Abkhazian coast drops

The Abkhaz government has decided to lower the volume of fish which may be caught by half  due to a significant decline in fish stocks off the coast of Abkhazia. The catch limit this year will be 20 000 tons.

The decline has been confirmed by an analysis jointly carried out by the Institute of Ecology of Abkhazia and the Russian Azov Black Sea Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries.

Due to the decline only a quarter of the 40 000 ton catch limit set by the government was reached last year.

According to David Gadlia, the Head of the Fisheries Department of the Ministry of Agriculture of Abkhazia, this year’s quota will mainly be distributed among six republican enterprises who are engaged in anchovy fishing and the processing of it into fishmeal and fish oil. Another 15% of the quota will be left for Russian enterprises as prescribed by the Abkhaz-Russian agreement.

“When the fishing season starts, we will see how many of the Azov anchovies will swim into our waters. The Institute of Ecology is conducting research so we use what we are provided with and distribute that quantity so we can’t exceed that stock and the total allowable catch,” said Gadlia.

However, if there is more fish than what has been predicted the Abkhaz government may increase the limits as long as environmentalists consent to it.

According to the Institute of Ecology, the current anchovy stock off the coast of Abkhazia has been estimated at approximately 80 000 tons.

Toponyms and terminology used in the publication, and views, opinions and strategies it contains do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of JAMnews or any employees thereof. JAMnews reserves the right to delete comments it considers to be offensive, inflammatory, threatening, or otherwise unacceptable

Go to top