North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission

Technical Report 17

Table of Contents

The Ups and Downs of Far East Salmon Stocks During Recent Decades: Some Considerations and Possible Causes

Authors: 
Andrey S. Krovnin, Kirill K. Kivva, George P. Moury, and Alexandra A. Sumkina

Abstract Excerpt:
Over recent decades Far East pink salmon stocks have undergone considerable variations associated with the strengthening of short-term climate variability in the North Pacific. The last minimum of total pink salmon catch (147,500 metric tons) in 2014 was followed by its growth to a maximum of about 511,000 metric tonnes in 2018. This rise of catches was associated with an increase in heat content of surface waters in the northern North Pacific and Far East Seas in 2014–2019. This presumably created favorable environmental conditions for pink salmon stocks, especially for those spawning in Kamchatka rivers, during their marine period of life. The growth of catches was essentially caused by an unusual increase in catch of even-year generations of East Kamchatka (EK) pink salmon, which were not a dominant stock. From 2012 to 2018, this catch rose more than six times, from 16,730 metric tonnes up to 111,250 metric tonnes, respectively (Fig. 1). In 2018, the share of EK pink salmon in the total Russian pink salmon catch reached almost 22%.

*This is the first paragraph of an extended abstract. Download the full abstract below.

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr17/83.87.

Citation

Krovnin, A.S., K.K. Kivva, G.P. Moury, and A.A. Sumkina.  2021.  The ups and downs of Far East salmon stocks during recent decades: some considerations and possible causes.  N. Pac. Anadr. Fish Comm. Tech. Rep. 17: 83–87.  https://doi.org/10.23849/npafctr17/83.87.