On rational usage of catches during the trap fishery in the Barents Sea

Abstract

The aim of the work is the search for resources to increase the fullness and complexity of using commercial catches of the red king crab and snow crab in the Barents Sea. The causes of the by-catches during the new trap fishery for commercial crustaceans in the Barents Sea have been analyzed and discards from the catches have been estimated. The main portion of discards is crab processing wastes, including the cephalothorax and internal organs and tissues placed in. According to estimations in 2006–2015 during the Russian trap fishery of red king crab and snow crab, the annual weight of discards ranged from 1.3 to 4.6 thou. t. These years about 2.8 thou. t of biological materials have been thrown back at sea annually. About 85 % of the total mass of wastes in 2006–2015 has been the red king crabs body parts. Due to the high abundance and biomass of the red king crab stock observed in the recent years accompanied by an increase of the snow crab commercial stock, some increase in the total mass of discards of two crabs can be expected, as well as some increase in the portion of discards from snow crab fishery. Current circumstances preventing the full processing of crabs catches are the technical limitations of fishing vessels, as well as the absence of onshore enterprises capable for processing waste from crab fishery. The full use of catches of the red king crab and the snow crab in the Barents Sea could provide the raw materials for production of food products, as well as a wide range of pharmaceuticals for humans and animals.

Keywords

• Barents Sea
• trap fishery
• red king crab
• snow crab
• bycatches
• waste