State of stocks and harvesting of marine mammals in Russia in 2000–2020

Abstract

Purpose: analysis of stocks and harvest of marine mammals in the coastal waters of Russia in 2000–2020.Method: collection and analysis of statistics data on the harvest of marine mammals provided by the territorial bodies of the Federal Agency for Fishery, as well as the results of a survey of the indigenous population about their harvest. The capture of marine mammals to ensure the traditional way of life of the indigenous population of the coastal regions of Russia continues to this day.Novelty: presents new data on the state of stocks and harvest of marine mammals in the coastal waters of Russia in 2000–2020.Results: By the beginning of the 21st century, commercial harvest for marine mammals had practically ceased for economic reasons. The trapping of marine mammals to ensure the traditional way of life of the indigenous population of the coastal regions of Russia continues to this day. The most intensive use of marine mammals is observed in Chukotka, where cetaceans, walruses and true seals are hunted. The meat and fat of marine mammals is used by the indigenous population for food purposes, as well as food for domestic dogs and fur-bearing animals when they are kept in cages. In Kamchatka, Sakhalin and along the entire mainland coast of the Sea of Okhotsk, the harvest of marine mammals by the indigenous population is significantly lower than in Chukotka. In these areas, seal fat is used for medical purposes. In remote villages of the Far North, hunted seals and beluga whales are also used for food, but collecting statistics on their production in these areas is difficult and is based on expert estimates. For a long time after the cessation of commercial fishing, the stocks of marine mammals were not assessed. Only thanks to federal funding of environmental projects of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thanks to Russian-A merican cooperation in the field of marine mammal research and the support of environmental organizations, new information has been obtained about marine mammal stocks in the last two decades of the 21st century. It is shown that despite the cessation of industrial harvesting of marine mammals, there is no significant increase in their stocks.