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The 10 year ASR Conservation Project is now into its 7th year. We
operate in accordance with the proposed mandate set out under
http://www.kharlovka.com/atlanticsalmon.html . The protection of our
fish stocks is directed by our Operations Director, Volodya Kulagin.
He has a staff of 16 full time protection personnel on constant land
patrol. They are supported by river authority river authority and
armed police officers on helicopter or offshore boat patrol available
at any time for "incident" call outs. All activities are coordinated
through an elaborate communications system. Operations begin in
April by snowmobile and do not end until our fish stocks are
protected by the "ice over" end October/November. The results have been remarkable successful as illustrated
by the following PINRO Graphs for Salmon Parr (Juveniles) Counts
together with our comments:
 Kharlovka |
 Rynda |
Both Kharlovka & Rynda are excellent recovery curves. This is the result of the “catch & release” fishing program since 1998 (End May to mid-Sept) and intensive river guarding since 1999 (April through October). Prior to these programs it is estimated up to 40% of the fish stocks were poached on the Kharlovka and up to 60% on the Rynda.
 Eastern Litsa |
 Zolotaya |
The Eastern Litza graph is a direct reflection of the poaching history. Commercial poaching in lower and middle river continued until the closure of the boarder guard camp in 2002. Meanwhile the upper river was poached by Murmansk professionals through 2003 ending with there employment by NR. It is estimated that up to 80% of the mature fish stocks were removed prior to cessation. There was rampant poaching on the Zolotaya until 2000 when NR began regular fishing and comprehensive guarding. Unfortunately there are no prior records of the parr count but we suspect the salmon population was moving to near destruction by 1998. Recent parr counts are most impressive.
Numbers of stock of Atlantic Salmon in Kharlovka river.
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1965-1980 Commercial fishery on a counting trap ( in average)
1981-1990 Illegal fishery ( in average)
1992-2000 Illegal fishery + Sport fishing by “Catch & Release” principle ( in average)2003-2006 Sport fishing by “Catch & Release” principle. Determination of the numbers of stock of Atlantic Salmon by the method of second catching of the tagged salmon. |
Numbers of stock of Atlantic Salmon in Eastern Litsa river |
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1963-1980Commercial fishery on a counting trap ( in average)
1993-1998 Illegal fishery + sport fishing ( in average)
2003-2006 Sport fishing by “Catch &Release” principle. Determination of the numbers of stock of Atlantic Salmon by the method of second catching of the tagged salmon. |
Numbers of stock of Atlantic Salmon in Rynda river |
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1963-1981 Commercial fishery on a counting trap ( in average)
1992-1998 Illegal fishery + sport fishing ( in average)
2004-2006 Sport fishing by “Catch &Release” principle. Determination of the numbers of stock of Atlantic Salmon by the method of second catching of the tagged salmon. |
RELEASE OR NOT RELEASE?
 Sergey Prusov, Ph.D in biology, researcher,
RF delegate in ICES Atlantic Salmon Working Group.
Polar Institute (PINRO), Murmansk
The reason for this report was the article by Mr. E.G. Berestovsky "Who is the Zolotoya for?" in the May issue of "Sportivnoe Rybolovstvo" (Sporting Fishing) which spoke about the "harm" of the "catch-and-release" fishing for salmon on the salmon rivers of Kola Peninsula. In the article Berestovsky singles out two components of this "harm". First is the fishermen "traditionally oriented" to murder (there is no other word because we are speaking not about ruffs and crucians but Atlantic Salmon, the Queen of Northern rivers) and consumption are short of fish under the scientifically grounded quotas. The second is the alleged harm to the wild salmon populations from "catch-and-release" assuming that the fish die anyway consequently there is no sense in releasing them.
I would like shortly to dwell on the first "harm" and try to show what in reality the consumption of the Atlantic Salmon as food product is like, not only in Russia but also abroad, and then we are going to talk in detail about the "catch-and-release" impact upon the survival of the Atlantic Salmon.
Fig. 1. World catch of wild Atlantic salmon for food consumption (ICES, 2005)
To begin with, two figures: according to the ICES International Council for Marine Research the catch of the wild Atlantic Salmon for consumption has decreased in all the countries possessing its stocks. The worldwide catch in 2004 was lower than 2 000 tons while in 1960-1970s it amounted up to 12 000 tons per year (fig.1)
This fall was caused both by the decrease in the salmon population and by its protection - the limitation of the season, agreements on buying out the industrial quotas, free-willed cessation of production, popularization of the "catch-and-release".
Many countries on the both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have completely stopped industrial catch of salmon and are developing recreational fishing, mainly with release of the fish. A few more figures: in Scotland where like in Russia anglers are used to smashing the caught fish's head with a stone, today the "catch-and-release" is growing more and more popular and the number of the released fish has grown from 6.500 (1994) to 42.500 (2004). In England, the home of fly fishing, the release of the fish has grown over the last decade from 1.500 to 12.500. Not to mention Canada where 60 000 salmons are annually set free after being caught (ICES, 2005). Why should we be worse? We are not -24 500 salmons were released in the rivers of Kola Peninsula in 2004, the beautiful fish going to spawn after thousands of sea migration miles, to give the new generation of the live silver torpedoes so much admired by the real connoisseurs of salmon angling.
Now what about those who cannot resist the "ancient hunting instinct" and simply cannot help killing the beautiful fish for its gastronomic qualities? In fact nobody has forbidden the "catch-and-keep" fishing and for all the Kola rivers the scientifically grounded limits are set every year. By the way if somebody has forgotten I will remind that until the early 1990s catching salmon was the state's monopoly and a man with a fishing rod on a salmon river was a priori regarded as a poacher. However the hungry ones should know that for the whole civilized world the farm salmon has replaced the wild salmon since long ago. Today the farm salmon production is 1 200 000 tons per year which is 600 times more than the catch of the wild salmon (fig. 2).
Fig. 2. World production of farmed Atlantic salmon (ICES, 2005).
Can you see the difference? 2 000 tons of wild salmon caught by different means on the both sides of the Atlantic on the one hand, and 1200 000 tons of salmons produced by the farms on the other. The major part of it is produced in Norway (around 600 000 tons a year), and almost 100% of the Atlantic Salmon on the Russian food stalls comes from the ponds of our Northern neigbour. Why this statistics? The point is - all the salmon rivers of the world are not able to produce this amount of fish. However we are used to consuming all these 1200 000 tons and want more, that is why the salmon is farm-bred even in the countries which are not its natural habitats, for example Chili (200 000 tons per year) and even Australia (15 000 tons per year).
That is why to answer Mr. Berestovsky when he claims his "ancient hunting instinct" and wishes to "appreciate the wonderful salmon" I would like to recommend him the nearest food store if he is hungry; the ancient instinct can be satisfied in a civilized way when the beautiful fish is released which means contribution in preservation of the species.
Now let us talk about the second issue, namely, the influence of "catch-and-release" on survival of an Atlantic Salmon after it has been caught by rod and returned back to water in viable condition according to the rules. First, some information. The issue of "catch-and-release" impact on subsequent survival of salmon arose immediately after this kind of fishing appeared in the US and Canada to ensure protection of large salmons, in 1984. Since that time due to the Atlantic Salmon population decrease this kind of fishing has grown very popular on the both sides of the Atlantic and lately the share of the released fish caught by rod in all countries has grown. That is why the issue of post-release survival of salmon is important today. The researches in various parts of the area showed that the survival of wild salmon after "catch-and-release" in fresh water is relatively high and usually amounts to 80-90%; the death rate depends on the water temperature, time spent by the salmon in the river before the first catch, time of lead and period of exposure to the air, place of hooking and specific injuries. (Zuganov and others, 1996; Prusov, 1998, 2004; Tufts et al., 1991; Booth et al., 1995; Brobbel et al., 1996; Wilkie et al., 1996, 1997; Makinen et al., 2000; Whoriskey et al., 2000; Dempson et al., 2002; Thorstad et al., 2003). These are the most important factors for the caught and released salmon. As to Stephen Cooke and co-authors' "Emerging issues in catch-and-release angling", referred to by Mr. Berestovsky in his report "Who is the Zolotaya for?" - nothing is said there about the Atlantic Salmon there. What Mr. Berestovsky presents as "brief" rendering of the work about the alleged half of "catch-and-release" is in fact one quotation torn out of the context. Actually this article is written about the opposite - how to lower the mortality of the released fish and the species discussed is not salmon but the American largemouth bass.
Now let us look at the rivers Mr. Berestovsky started to talk about, namely, the Rynda, the Kharlovka, the Eastern Litza and the Zolotaya. These rivers are in the North-east of Kola Peninsula and by their hydrologic character are classed as small (the Zolotaya) and medium salmon rivers (fig.3).
Fig. 3. Scheme map of Kola peninsula
Until 1992 the biology of the Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar L.) of the rivers Rynda, Kharlovka, Eastern Litza and Zolotaya was practically unknown. Research was done only on the Rynda in 1960 which gave certain data on the parr (Kuzmin, 1982). Since 1990s the PINRO has been annually monitoring the stocks of the Atlantic Salmon in the rivers Rynda, Kharlovka, Eastern Litza and Zolotaya which gives plentiful data on salmon biology and the reproductive potential of its populations. These data became the basis for the scientific recommendations on the Atlantic Salmon stocks management in these rivers. By today the scientists have determined several variants of fishing management and mathematical calculations show that the variant with a limited small outtake is preferable for recreational angling when as many as possible adult salmons are required in the river
(Caddy, Mahon, 1995). To say in a simpler way for this kind of fishing a small limited amount of fish is annually set for "catch-and-keep" angling while all the remaining fish are given the chance to spawn so that the population amount is kept at the highest possible level for a long period. In this case the risks of the undesirable and sometimes irreversible changes in the population are lowest and the population itself consists of really "wild" fish with the maximal amount for the specific habitat. This kind of management also increases the economic efficiency of fishing. In respect of efficiency, recreational fishing is by far more profitable than the sale of the wild salmon as food. For example in the United Kingdom angling is one of the most popular recreation activities and the total expenses of amateur anglers in 2001 are estimated ?2.5 billion of which ?545 million was spent by salmon and trout anglers. (Potter & Dare, 2003). On the Kola Peninsula where recreational fishing is relatively new, the overall income from fishing tourism in Murmansk Oblast in 2001 was about $6 million (Murmanskaya…, 2001). To receive the same income from food salmon sales one would have to sell over one half of the world catch of wild salmon. Any questions?
But let us return to survival of fish. Mr. Berestovsky is right to say that 85-95% of Atlantic Salmon dies after spawning. This is a scientific fact. Such is the biology of this species spawning in fresh water but feeding in the huge area of North Atlantic from the Faroe Islands in the south to the Spitsbergen in the north, from Greenland in the west to Norwegian coast line in the east. The ocean is enormous and could feed a lot more fish than those returning to our rivers but the rivers are not endless and can only intake a limited number of spawning fish and give shelter only to a limited parr number. That is why salmon die after spawning, to give space to their breed and let evolution go on. However they only die after spawning which escapes the attention of the author of "Who is the Zolotaya for?" when he says "the wonderful salmon which is fantastic food in summer will turn into a tasteless half-dead puny creature". Here I would like to comment that the Atlantic salmon spawns in autumn while the puny creature means a post-spawning salmon or a salmon with the spawning colouring.
As it was said above, scientific research in various countries showed that the death rate of the Atlantic Salmon caused by "catch-and-release" is low and mostly depends on the water temperature (if it is above 20°C the death rate is higher, the time spent by the fish in the river water before the first catch (the longer this time, the lower the mortality), the time of lead (the longer the lead, the more dead fish), the place of hooking (if it is grills and the wound is bleeding the chances of the fish are not good). It is worth mentioning that for the period of many-year monitoring in these rivers the temperature has never been above 20°C, recreational angling aims at the fish that has already spent some time in fresh water, and the anglers are assisted by experienced guides who will always give advice and help with the landing-net. Talking about grills hooking, according to Norwegian and Russian research such cases amount to 5-10% and are natural and inevitable while fishing for artificial baits (flies).
Fig. 4. The tagged salmon is released
Of course one should mention the results of salmon tagging on the rivers Rynda, Kharlovka and Eastern Litza under the program for the salmon number estimation in these rivers. Tagging and second catch data collection is effected during recreational "catch-and-release" fishing. The fish are flog-tagged individually under the dorsal fin in the landing-net after the lead (fig.4). Here are some results of this program. On the Kharlovka river during the season 2004 392 salmons were tagged of which 41 were caught for a second time; on the Eastern Litza 254 salmons were tagged and 59 were caught for a second time; on the Rynda 341 salmons were tagged and 43 caught again. This means 10 to 20% of fish were taking the fly for a second or even third time and did not look dying or exhausted by the previous lead. Normal activity of the caught and released fish is also proved by telemetric research (Kuzmin, the press) which was done on the Kharlovka in 2002 when 30 salmons caught by fly-fishing were radio-tagged and released back to the river and their migration within the river system was monitored during the whole summer until spawning. None died and all of them spawned successfully.
Fig. 5. Density of salmon parr population (pieces/100M2) in the Rynda and Kharlovka rivers
The high survival of caught and released salmons well as their excellent reproductive health can be proved by the increased parr count in the rivers where "catch-and-release" is practiced. For those who did not know: before descending to the ocean the Atlantic Salmon parrs spend 2 to 7 years in the river while they only grow to 12-15 cm. and these parrs have become more numerous in the "catch-and'release" rivers (fig.5). Any questions?
In conclusion I would like to mention one more reason why I decided to write this article. The point is, a "professional ichtiologist" which Mr. Berestovsky calls himself is the same as "fish" of uncertain species. When talking about practical issues one has to be professional in the specific field. Some specialize in the sturgeon family, others in salmon, some are experts in fishing management and others are good taxonomists. The overwhelming majority of scientific works by E.G. Berestovsky are devoted to the nourishment and growth of American Plaice living in the Barents Sea that is why his article in the "Sportivoe Rybolovstvo" (Sporting Fishing) concerning the Atlantic Salmon and its stocks management naturally is a surprise.
Salmon "Catch-and-release" Fishing: Myths and Reality
A.V. Zubchenko, biology PhD., S.V. Prusov, biology PhD., D.O. Kuzmin (PINRO)
Lately in the magazines and on the web-sites for fishermen there have appeared more and more publications about the "catch-and-release" fishing. No doubt every fisherman has sometimes - willingly or unwillingly - been involved in this kind of fishing. Somebody just out of principle does not want to catch more than his stomach can receive and after the cage is full though cannot help fishing more, starts to release the redundant fish. Some released the caught fish because its size was too small. Others were very disappointed when the fish "released itself" getting off the hook at the very last moment. Still others were fishing for a different kind of fish. However there are also fishing lovers who purposefully let the caught fish go back to water alive because fishing for them is a sport - a wonderful physical activity and a way of communication with the nature. The successfully developing recreational Atlantic salmon angling in the Kola Peninsula is a vivid example.
"Catch-and-release" fishing quite understandably has both its supporters and opponents. But before beginning a heated dispute of the subject one must realize that the "keep or release?" dilemma should be solved in each case specifically. We should first find out how this way of fishing is suitable for this or that species and habitat instead of putting together all that have scales and a rudder. In this article we are going to tell our respected reader how the "catch-and-release" fishing came to the Kola Peninsula, what is its influence on the wild Atlantic salmon populations and prospects of further development. We believe that we have this right because everything written below is proved by many-year research work which results were described by the authors in over a hundred reports, collectively.
Very few know today that amateur fishing in the Kola Peninsula was first allowed by the USSR Ministry of Fishing Industry by way of exception back in 1949. That was when the fishermen of Murmansk region were first legally allowed to fish for salmon by spinning for consumption on the Kola and the Tyuva rivers and later on the Ura, the Pechenga, the Teriberka and the Umba. The results, however, were disastrous: by 1955 there were over two thousand spinning fishers and the catch had grown so that the Taibola fish farm which is on the Kola river could not fulfill the planned spawners catch for the breeding process. This is what N.D. Nikifirov, biology PhD, the researcher from the USSR Research Center for Lake and River Fish Industry (VNIORH) wrote: "In this situation salmon spawners are caught in enormous amount. Besides, poachers disguise as amateur anglers. Thus the allowed spinning fishing on the salmon rivers damage the salmon reproduction immensely. Meanwhile, in the Murmansk Region there are many suitable lakes populated with whitefish, trout, perch, grayling, pikeperch and other fishes. Practically nobody goes fishing on these lakes. That is why anglers may be allowed fishing in these water bodies in any time of year. At the same time spinning fishing in the salmon spawning rivers must be forbidden".
Besides in the then USSR salmon was an exclusive food for the chosen ones while common people could hardly legally eat it, and recreational angling did not become popular at the time. It is also noteworthy that until the 1990s the Atlantic salmon was regarded only as a valuable food resource and industrial fishing was the priority. Industrial fishing was carried out both in some rivers by fish-control fences and in the coastal areas in the Barents and White Seas. The largest number of fishing fences was constructed in 1978 - in 23 rivers. In those years the industrial catch reached 200-400 tons. An important event took place in 1989 when on initiative of the PINRO (the Polar Research Centre for Fishery and Oceanography) and Murmanrybvod an open meeting of the local administration officials was held where the concept of recreational fishing and fishing tourism development on the Kola Peninsula was proposed for the first time. It was suggested that this concept (Zubchenko and others, 1991) should be based on the "catch-and-release" principle, new in Russia. Why exactly this principle? According to the research by foreign ichtiologists, the martality rate of the salmon after the contact with hook-based tackle with artificial baits did not exceed 2-8%. In fact it showed that recreational "catch-and-release" fishing is the most sparing way of fish stock exploitation.
In the beginning of 1990s the PINRO salmon researchers clearly realized that "should the priority be given to the development of recreational angling, the industrial fishing in the Kola Peninsula will lose its former significance" and that "recreational angling as a direction of salmon management is more efficient economically and will allow sustaining the natural salmon reproduction at a higher level". ("Rybnoe Hozyaistvo" #2, 1996). This is what actually happened, and today in the Kola Peninsula sporting and recreational fishing catch exceeds the industrial catch - which agrees with the world tendency in the use of the Atlantic salmon stocks targeted at conservation of the wild Atlantic salmon populations and recreational fishing development. According to the International Council for exploration of the Sea (ICES) (http://www.ices.dk/), the wild Atlantic salmon consumption catch has decreased in all the countries possessing its stocks. The world catch in 2004 amounted to less than 2 thousand tons while in 1960s-1970s up to 12 thousand tons was caught. This decrease is caused both by the drop in the salmon populations and the conservation measures - the limitation of the fishing season, agreements on buy-out of industrial quotas, free-willed reduction of industrial catch, the growing popularity of the "catch-and-release".
Many countries on the both sides of the Atlantic Ocean have completely ceased industrial catch of salmon and are developing recreational fishing, mainly with release of the fish. A few more figures: in Scotland where like in Russia anglers are used to smashing the caught fish's head with a stone, today the "catch-and-release" is growing more and more popular and the number of the released fish has grown from 6.500 (1994) to 42.500 (2004). In England, the home of fly fishing, the release of the fish has grown over the last decade from 1.500 to 12.500. Not to mention Canada where 60 000 salmons are annually set free after being caught (ICES, 2005). Why should we be worse? We are not -24 500 salmons were released in the rivers of Kola Peninsula in 2004, the beautiful fish going to spawn after thousands of sea migration miles, to give the new generation of the live silver torpedoes so much admired by the real connoisseurs of salmon angling.
Initially, "catch-and-release" salmon fishing on the Kola Peninsula was targeted at foreign tourists. This was the time when market economy was only beginning to emerge in Russia. Fishing tourism was a totally new activity and first of all required serious investments. All we had was the necessary "basement" - the virginal nature, rivers and the wild salmon stocks in some places seriously damaged by industrial and illegal fishing. We lacked money, experience of managing such activities and most important of all - there were no fishermen ready to pay for the "bizarre entertainment" - to catch a fish, take a picture and let it go. That was why foreign companies targeting at foreign markets were first to start developing recreational fishing here. However one should note it was the arrangement of sporting salmon "catch-and-release" fishing that gave a stimulus to the successful development of recreational fishing on the Kola Peninsula. Today any angler may fish for salmon practically on every river of the Kola Peninsula legally under the established regulations. This would be impossible only 15 years ago. The important thing is that the attitude to the local anglers has changed - instead of the total "prohibition" they were given open access to all the salmon rivers of the region.
THE FEDERAL LAW OF THE FAUNA IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION, Clause 21: "Conservation of fauna objects may be achieved by alteration of the way of fauna exploitation prohibiting extraction of fauna objects from their habitats and arranging these objects' exploitation without extraction for cultural and educational, recreational and esthetic purposes including management of environmental tourism".
In our opinion, it is nonsense to catch and release crucians, perches and other fishes that rivers and lakes are teeming with. However when we are talking about a "trophy" fish even if the species is plentiful, this is different. In respect of the species which populations are small and/or limited by their habitats, "catch-and-release" may become the only way of environmentally friendly use of the fauna object.
The population of the wild Atlantic salmon will always be limited by the ecological capacity of spawning stretches in the rivers, and there will never be more salmon than it is provided by Nature. Such is the biology of this species which spawn in fresh water rivers but fattens in the vast North Atlantic from the Faroe Islands in the south to the Spitsbergen in the north, from Greenland in the west to the coast of Norway in the east. The ocean is immense and could feed far more salmons than those returning to our rivers but the rivers are not endless and only can let in a limited number of spawners and give shelter to a limited number of the young. That is why every river has the so-called ecological capacity - the limited amount of adult fish.
The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) is in the Endangered Species Book of The Russian Federation and Murmansk Region as a species which requires constant biological control. That is why beginning from 1992 recreational salmon fishing in the Kola Peninsula has been given serious scientific attention. The research is carried out by the PINRO and Murmanrybvod. The main purpose of the studies is assessment of the salmon stocks, forecast of the spawning migrants amounts, development of recommendations for rational use of the resources as well as the fishing time and limit of catch.
Annually data are collected and analyzed in respect of: the hydrologic regime of the rivers; the spawning run dynamics; ichtiologic material is collected; monitoring of the number (density of population) of young salmon in the spawning/nursery parts of the rivers is carried out; the time and dynamics of catadromous migration of smolts is monitored. The quality of spawning/nursery parts of the rivers is assessed and their total area is estimated. Data are collected in respect of hydrobiology - the young salmon's food supply. The ecological capacity of the whole spawning/nursery fund of the rivers is estimated.
The PINRO researchers have established the main biological landmarks for salmon stocks management - the conservation and control limits. The conservation limit is the most important feature: this is the minimal level of the spawning reserve which provides preservation of the salmon population and which the amount of the spawners must not go lower (NASCO, 1999). Thanks to the research work done it became possible to set the science-based fishing limits for every river in the Kola Peninsula.
Since 1994 on the Ponoy and since 2003 on the Rynda, the Kharlovka and the Eastern Litza large-scale flog-tagging of spawners has been executed and their amount is assessed by the repeated catch method (based on the data collected during recreational "catch-and-release" fishing). A study is being carried out to assess the influence of the "catch-and-release" on the salmon populations. Besides on the Ponoy in 1996, on the Varzuga in 1997 and on the Kharlovka in 2002 the salmon's behavior during the spawning migration was studied by telemetric equipment, or, in other words, by radio-tagging. Canadian, Norwegian and Swedish researchers took part in this study. All research work is done at a high scientific level with the use of the modern equipment; the obtained data are analyzed in accordance with the latest generally accepted methods.
The studies showed that for the period of recreational fishing development the young salmon population density has grown several times in the parts of rivers where "catch-and-release" fishing prevails. At the same time, the young fish amount increase was not accompanied by any changes of size-and-weight specifications in the relative age groups. The amount of salmon returning to spawn for a second and third time has considerably grown - up to 10% of the total amount of spawners which is a very high figure for the Atlantic salmon which mostly dies after spawning. The large salmons which spent two and more years in the sea amount to over a half of the spawning migrants in each separate population which absolutely corresponds to their "wild" biological structure. There are many more examples showing the excellent health of the Atlantic salmon in these rivers and the improved natural reproduction in the rivers where "catch-and-release" fishing is in practice.
Let us now touch upon the salmon mortality, namely, about the "catch-and-release" influence on survival of the Atlantic salmon after rod catch and the following release back to water in viable condition according to the fishing rules. The studies by researchers from different countries (Zuganov and others, 1996; ??????, 1998, 2004; Tufts et al., 1991; Booth et al., 1995; Brobbel et al., 1996; Wilkie et al., 1996, 1997; Makinen et al., 2000; Whoriskey et al., 2000; Dempson et al., 2002; Thorstad et al., 2003) show that if the required procedures are observed the salmon mortality rate is low and depends mostly on the water temperature, time spent by the fish before the first catch, time of leading and exposure to the air, place of hooking and the specific kind of wound.
The rules of catch and release of fish in viable condition back to water developed by the Murmanrybvod experts and applied in the Kola Peninsula today fully comply with the international standards and recommendations of such a respectable organization as NASCO (http://www.nasco.int/). This intergovernmental authority of which Russia has been a member since 1986; it does not "finance" of "supervise" anything but for its 20-year existence has done a lot for the Atlantic salmon conservation. Here is a quotation from the Secretary of this organization Dr. Malcolm Windsor's report of his visit to Murmansk Region in 2004: "The ever growing popularity of the "catch-and-release" recreational fishing means that the social and economic benefits are acquired without putting at risk the sustainability of the wild salmon stocks. It is praiseworthy that recreational fishing in Murmansk Region is based on the "catch-and-release" rule which turned out acceptable for foreign anglers - and today becoming more and more popular with Russian anglers as well…" (http://www.pinro.ru)
By our estimation the salmon mortality rate after hook-tackle "catch-and-release" in the Kola Peninsula rivers does not exceed 5-10%. No doubt this is the merit of the competent guides who are mostly from Russia which is pleasant to mention. A professional guide fully controls the process of sporting fishing and will never allow the angler to do anything that can cause the death of the caught fish. Even the strike and leading are supervised. All fish with no exception are landed at some distance of the bank with a special knot-free landing net which protects the fish from injuries and loss of scales. Unhooking and measuring the fish is done by the guide under the water surface. Fish are weighed in the landing net only. The guide will never allow the angler take a fish in hands with no gloves on if they are not cooled down in water, or hold a fish rudder up. Taking pictures only lasts for 10-15 seconds. The professional guides have all these skills mastered to perfection.
The Atlantic salmon is a large and strong fish and fishing for it alone is quite a difficult task. Only professionals are able, waist-deep in water, to lead a salmon closer and unhook holding it at the caudal peduncle. Obviously fishing alone and without the help of a professional guide makes it difficult to lower the salmon mortality rate though it is not impossible. However we do not insist on thoughtless implementation of the "catch-and-release" rule everywhere because this may not bring any results if the required release procedures are not observed. Catching and releasing salmon without certain rules observed may bring about river beds covered with dead bodies of these noble fish. To let a fish go back to water one must first of all want to do it, and fishing should comply with one's intentions and fishing regulations.
As the interest in salmon fishing is growing in geometric progression and every year the number of anglers coming to the Kola Peninsula multiplies, in some time the priority will inevitably shift still more from consumption fishing to recreational "catch-and-release". No doubt by that time the whole fishing infrastructure will have properly developed and every angler coming to the Kola Peninsula will be able to receive professional assistance in respect of competent handling a salmon both by advice and action if necessary.
It is not only due to their professions that the authors of this article consider their goal to preserve and multiply the wild Atlantic salmon population, and they clearly realize how this can be achieved. As researchers and fishermen, we have made our choice in the dilemma "to kill or let go", and we sincerely believe that it is through this conservation "catch-and-release" approach that the coming generations will have the opportunity to angle for this strong and beautiful fish.
Recreational angling on the northern rivers - will there be a home for
salmon?
What civilized fishing can be like?
Authors: Dmitry Kuzmin, Sergey Prusov, Vladimir Kulagin
About the authors: Dmitry Kuzmin and Sergey Prusov (PhD in biology) are fellows of the
Polar Research Centre of Sea Fishing and Oceanography.
Vladimir Kulagin is a representative of the Russian tourism company Northern Rivers.
"The ever growing popularity of the "catch-and-release" recreational fishing means that the social and economic benefits are acquired without putting at risk the sustainability of the wild salmon stocks. It is praiseworthy that recreational fishing in Murmansk Region is based on the "catch-and-release" rule which turned out acceptable for foreign anglers - and today becoming more and more popular with Russian anglers as well..."
From the report of the visit of Malcolm Windsor, the Secretary for the inter-governmental North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO) to Murmansk Region, 2004.
Every fly-fisher certainly knows that recreational fishing for Atlantic salmon has existed on the Kola Peninsula for about 15 years successfully developing. Practically everybody who has been here wants to come again. Those who haven't will surely come to the Kola Peninsula to try for the worthy "rival" - the Atlantic salmon. In Russia and the former USSR fly fishing is rap-idly gaining popularity as the top class fishing skill and excellent physical exercise. Every year there are more and more supporters of this activity successfully promoted by specialized maga-zines and Russian companies which sell high quality fishing tackle targeting the domestic fish-erman and making fly fishing available to anybody. We believe everybody already knows that recreational salmon fishing on the Kola Peninsula is developing in two directions: "catch-and-keep" and "catch-and-release"; each has its own supporters and opponents. Recently magazines for fishermen and others have published reports which call "catch-and-release" salmon fishing immoral and vicious, accusing its supporters of sadism and the Russian fishing tourism compa-nies - of "environmental terrorism". The authors of those articles refer to "the reliable confiden-tial sources" and talk about the allegedly catastrophic depletion of salmon population in the Mur-mansk Region rivers, blaming foreign fishermen, Russian tourism operators, officials and fishing industry science. We will try to find out if this is true answering the questions: what "catch-and-release" salmon fishing is, how it came to the Kola Peninsula, what its effects and prospects are. And not to be too theoretical, we will illustrate our position by the example of the Atlantic salmon populations in the Rynda, Zolotaya, Kharlovka and Eastern Litza where the famous Rus-sian fishing tourism company Northern Rivers has been successfully operating for over ten years.
The year 1972 became crucial for successful development of recreational fishing on the Kola Peninsula. On the initiative of the river authorities recreational salmon fishing was allowed under one-time licenses on the Titovka river. Two years later this kind of fishing was allowed on five rivers of the Kola Peninsula. Much later, in 1989 on the initiative of PINRO and Murman-rybvod an open meeting of the local administration officials was held where the concept of rec-reational fishing and fishing tourism development on the Kola Peninsula was proposed for the first time. It was suggested that this concept (Zubchenko and others, 1991) should be based on the "catch-and-release" principle, new in Russia. Why exactly this principle? We should remind that this approach for the first time became widely popular in the US and Canada in 1984 as a way of conservation of large salmons (ICES, 1999) and was actively supported by, first of all, fly-fishers. According to the research by foreign ichtiologists, the death rate of the salmon after the contact with hook-based tackle with artificial baits did not exceed 2-8% (for fresh-water At-lantic salmon in Man, the US), (Warner, 1976, 1978, 1979; Warner, Johnson 1978). In fact it showed that recreational "catch-and-release" fishing is the most sparing way of fish stock exploi-tation.
Until the early 1990-s in Russia the Atlantic salmon was regarded as a valuable food re-source only, and the industrial use of it was the priority. Industrial fishing was carried out both in some rivers by fish-control fences and in the coastal areas in the Barents and White Seas. The largest number of fishing fences was constructed in 1978 - in 23 rivers. By the end of 1980s it was obvious that in the rivers with salmon populations of about 1000 units (mostly in the North-East of the Kola Peninsula) the existing industry was not effective for a number of reasons. First, due to the specific hydrologic character of these rivers the fishing fences were constructed prac-tically in the estuarial zones, that is why fish going to spawn in other rivers was caught, too. Also, the populations were impacted by sea fishing and poaching. Finally, the catch regime was not always observed (a catch day/ a day off). The salmon populations in those rivers noticeably decreased. Eventually industrial fishing there became economically ineffective and stopped in 1981. In fact after 1981 in many rivers the salmon stocks were not used at all except for illegal fishing (poaching) which flourished during those years as never before. After the fishing fences ceased to operate (which also were used to monitor the populations) there was no other source of information about the salmon stocks, and by 1990 nobody could say what the factual condition of the specific salmon populations was. It was assumed that the populations had partially recov-ered. The new way of the fish stocks exploitation, which is recreational fishing, in its turn re-quired management and control, that is, defining the catch limits and seasons. How could it be arranged? It was decided to use the "catch-and-release" approach based on the simple idea - "don't do harm".
Initially, "catch-and-release" salmon fishing on the Kola Peninsula was targeted at foreign tourists. As we remember in the late 1980-s - early 1990-s the socialism foundations were shak-ing and Russia was rapidly moving away from the planned economy towards the market rela-tions. Fishing tourism was a totally new activity and first of all required serious investments. All we had was the necessary "basement" - the virginal nature, rivers and the wild salmon stocks in some places seriously damaged by industrial and illegal fishing. We lacked money, experience of managing such activities and most important of all - there were no fishermen ready to pay for the "bizarre entertainment" - to catch a fish, take a picture and let it go… That is why foreign companies with large experience of fishing tourism management in the US, Canada, Finland were invited as partners who were ready to significantly invest into fishing tourism in Murmansk Region. The real professionals in the business and adventurous pioneers (doing business in the then Russia was for the risk takers) started enthusiastically and as early as in 1991 the first for-eign tourists were fly-fishing on four rivers of the Kola Peninsula - the Ponoy, the Varzuga, the Umba and the Varzina. By 1993 this kind of fishing was in practice on 23 rivers, by 2003 - on 75. One should note it was the arrangement of sporting salmon "catch-and-release" fishing that gave a stimulus to the successful development of recreational fishing on the Kola Peninsula. The researchers from PINRO and MMBI (Murmansk Marine Biological Institute) carried out large-scale studies which allowed estimating the present-day condition of the salmon stocks in many rivers and establishing biological landmarks for the management of the resources. This made it possible to set the science based catch limits for "catch-and-keep" for virtually all the salmon populations on the Kola Peninsula. We should not forget that the Atlantic salmon is federal property and its catch is strictly limited. Today anybody may legally fish under the established regulations on the Kola rivers which was impossible just 15 years ago. It is also generally recog-nized that the successful management of sporting and recreational fishing in the Region became possible through the system of state administration and control of this activity under the existing federal law.
Now as promised let us pass from the general ideas to the particular case. Fly fishing today has expanded far beyond the Kola Peninsula and the Ladoga salmon rivers with supporters not only everywhere in Russia but also the former Soviet republics, that is why many of our re-spected readers haven't been on the Kola Peninsula and haven't met the Atlantic salmon yet. For them we would like to give a brief description of our region, rivers and the main biological fea-tures of the inhabiting salmon. Also we will give a historical reference of the salmon resources development in the North-East of the Kola Peninsula which will eventually allow the readers making their own conclusions.
The rivers Rynda, Zolotaya, Kharlovka and Eastern Litza flow through the North-East part of the Kola Peninsula. They are situated in the watershed of the Serebryanskoye water reservoir (the former salmon river Voronya) and the Yokanga River. The rivers flow into the Barents Sea. By their hydrologic character the Rynda, Kharlovka and Eastern Litza are classified as medium salmon rivers of the Kola Peninsula, and the Kharlovka is classified as a small river. All of them are mountain type rivers refilled mainly by precipitations. Rapids and rifts occupy larger stretches of the rivers. Slow-flow stretches can only be found in the upper courses of the rivers where they pass numerous lakes. The estuaries are meandering and undivided. In the lower course rough rapids alternate with small rifts and stretches with flat even flow which creates practically ideal conditions for fly fishing.
Like in all rivers of the Eastern Kola Peninsula, the salmon populations of the Rynda, Khar-lovka, Eastern Litza and Zolotaya are mainly the summer fish. Autumn fish are sparse. In spite of the various conditions during the migration season the spawning dynamics is more or less constant. In the beginning of the spawning run salmons of the older groups prevail (2SW - 4SW), weighing 5 to 18 kg. By the end of June - beginning of July grills appear (1SW), their share in the spawning schools being 30-50%. The autumn run of salmon starts at the end of Au-gust. Salmons 4-5kg are first to enter the rivers. Large salmons (2SW - 3SW, 7 - 15kg) finish the autumn run. The salmon spawners going to the annual spawning have a complex age compo-sition - about 18 age groups. The spawners' absolute age varies from 4+ to 10+, on average 7.1 years. The young fish spends 2 to 7 years in the river; the average migrants' age is 4.6 years.
Of course the Atlantic salmon populations in the Barents basin rivers cannot be compared to the White Sea rivers such as the Ponoy and the Varzuga. But the Barents Sea salmons are lar-ger which definitely attracts fishermen who prefer catching one "serious" fish instead of ten small ones.
The history of the domestic fishing shows that before the XX century the native people - Saami - constructed salmon fences in the rivers of East-North Kola (the prototypes of the mod-ern fish control fences) (fig.). The caught fish was partly sold to the seasonal fishermen, partly to tradesmen who sent it from the coastal areas to Archangelsk. According to V.K.Soldatov on the Rynda the fence was constructed about 3 km of the estuary. It was about 30 meters long; the rest of the river was barred by net. There is no reliable data about the catch amounts of those years. On the Kharlovka in the XIX - early XX a fishing fence was also used - it was made immedi-ately after the spring flood and functioned till the end of September. The catch reached 1600-3200 kg (the average weight of fish being 5.4 kg, the catch amounted to 300-600 units).
Fig. Catch at the Fishing Fence and salmon population on the Kharlovka in 1965-1980
Fig. Catch at the Fishing Fence and salmon population on the Eastern Litza in 1965-1980
Fig. Catch at the Fishing Fence and salmon population on the Rynda in 1950-1981
Fig. Catch at the Fishing Fence and salmon population on the Zolotaya in 1950-1981
In the 1930-s fish was caught in these rivers at the fishing places - 5 to 11 places in each river. The catch on the Kharlovka fluctuated between 135 and 250 units, on the Rynda - between 187 and 1439. According to Murmanrybvod during the industrial catch period in 1960-1980 at the fishing fences 74 to 760 units were caught on the Kharlovka, 164 to 1149 units on the Rynda. On the Eastern Litza the catch fluctuated from 50 (in 1980) to 887 (in 1966) units (average 538), on the Zolotaya - from 44 (1977) to 654 (1967) (fig.). By 1981 the Atlantic salmon stocks in these rivers were seriously depleted; consequently industrial catch became economically ineffec-tive and was ceased. That was it… Later, from 1981 to 1992 professional poachers, hiking and water sports tourists and the military came here. By expert estimation by 1992 the salmon popu-lation in the Rynda had 1500 spawners, in the Kharlovka - 1200 spawners, in the Eastern Litza 560, in the Zolotaya - 200.
The first official fishing tourists came to the Rynda, Kharlovka, Eastern Litza and Zolotaya in 1992. The "Ogni Murmanska" company became the Russian tourism operator with the right of arranging and managing fishing tours and the famous American businessman Bill Davis was the foreign partner. In 1995 the exclusive right of the Russian tourism operator on the above riv-ers was given to the "Northern Rivers". It is noteworthy that the original team practically re-mained unchanged. At the same time for a number of reasons the foreign partner was also re-placed - by the Swedish company "Flyfish in Kola" which worked in cooperation with the Rus-sian company until 1998. The major problem of that period was the foreign partners' unwilling-ness to invest into the future development. They were rather taking a "wait-and-see" position which made them seem temporary participants looking for quick money. The Russian partners, by contrast, were ready to work a long time for the future development.
Everything radically changed in 1998 when the "Northern Rivers" established partnership with the famous English businessman Peter Power. An eager fly-fisher, Peter Power had been fishing for salmon in Russia before, including the Eastern Kola rivers. He had first-hand knowl-edge of the existing problems, seen openly acting poachers, revers half-barred with nets, garbage left by raftsmen, tourists, hunters and fishermen. He thoroughly studied the existing situation and the previous experience realizing that sustainable demand for the company's fishing product was only possible provided the fish stocks are in good condition and the nature is kept pristine. To-gether with the administration of the "Northern Rivers" they developed a complex of actions aimed at protection of the salmon from poaching and the nature from any damaging effects. In cooperation with Murmanrybvod an effective all-year-round system of anti-poaching protection was implemented which is still being actively carried out. This helped eliminate illegal salmon fishing and today if anybody tries to fish against the regulations this may only happen by mis-take. Simultaneously another environmental program was implemented aiming at cleaning the area of the effects of the so-called "wild tourism". In simpler words, tones of garbage was col-lected and carried away by helicopter from the water protective area and the neighboring tundra. Today even a cigarette stub cannot be found there.
There are not too many fly-fishers who prefer salmon and trout, that is why the competition at the recreational fishing tourism market is very high. The fishermen have a wide range of op-tions where to go: Argentina, New Zealand, the British Columbia, Canada, Iceland, Scotland, Finland, Norway and Kamchatka. Just large plentiful salmons are not enough to impress, and many tourists naturally demand comfort and safety, and there is no harm in it, is there? It is not at any age that people can enjoy tinned meat by the fire every day, being wet through and tired, singing tourist songs to the guitar. That is why the old builders' carriages and tents have been replaced by comfortable cabins with shower rooms, toilets and electric heaters. With participa-tion of professional architects and builders the cabins were constructed under all sanitary and en-vironmental regulations, matching the landscape and without damaging a single tree. Today the fishermen's camping sites on the Rynda and Kharlovka are equipped with everything necessary to meet the world standards.
The results of the above described actions and professional management are obvious and at present the Northern Rivers receives over four hundred guests during one season. The Atlantic salmon stocks are at high level which is proved by the scientific research results given below. We apologize to the reader for the dry academic information but when talking about science it can't be helped.
Beginning from 1992 sporting and recreational salmon fishing on the Rynda, Kharlovka, Eastern Litza and Zolotaya received serious scientific support. The studies are carried out by the PINRO researchers (from 1996 to 2000 together with MMBI). The main purpose of the research - assessment of the salmon stocks, forecast of the spawning migrants amounts, development of recommendations for rational use of the resources as well as the fishing time and limit of catch. This means that the scientific work is mostly monitoring. Annually data are collected and ana-lyzed in respect of: hydrologic regime of the rivers; the spawning run dynamics; size and amount, gender, age structure of the salmon spawning schools (over 3000 samples were col-lected during the whole period of studies, 99.9% of them - from live fish with the following re-lease). Constant monitoring of the number (density of population) of young salmon in the spawn-ing - nursery parts of the rivers is carried out; data of size and weight, gender, age of young salmon are collected (over 4000 samples collected and processed), the growth rates are analyzed; the time and dynamics of catadromous migration of smolts is monitored, as well as their gender and age composition and size-and-weight specifications. Information about salmon females' fer-tility in different age groups is collected. By method of strip photography the assessment of the quality of the spawning and nursery stretches was done and their total area was determined. Hy-dro-biological data were collected and processed; the young salmon's food potential was speci-fied. The environmental capacity of the overall spawning-and-nursery fund of the rivers was de-termined. Based on the research results the main biologic landmarks for salmon management were established - the minimal spawning reserve for each population, the retaining and directing limits. Since 2003 large-scale flog-tagging of salmon spawners (over 1000 every year) has been done and their amount is assessed by the repeated catch according to Pooled Peterson and Sche-afer. A study is being carried out to assess the impact of "catch-and-release" upon the salmon populations amount. Besides, in 2002 with the financial support of NASF (North Atlantic Salmon Fund) and personally Peter Power together with Swedish scientists on the Kharlovka the behavior of MSW (multi-sea winter) salmon during the spawning migration was studied by method of radio-tagging. All research work is done at a high quality level with the use of the modern equipment; the obtained data are analyzed in accordance with the latest generally ac-cepted methods.
The research showed that for the period of recreational salmon fishing, mostly by "catch-and-release", on the Rynda, Kharlovka, Eastern Litza and Zolotaya the population density of young salmon, age 1+ and older, has increased in the spawning-and-nursery stretches by over 3 times (fig.). At the same time, the young fish amount increase was not accompanied by any changes of size-and-weight specifications in the relative age groups. The today's amount of the salmon returning to spawn to the Kharlovka is about 5000 units, to the Eastern Litza 1800 units, to the Rynda 5500 units, to the Zolotaya - about 500 units. This should be compared to the sta-tistics given above: such amounts of salmon have not existed in the Rynda and Kharlovka for centuries. The amount of salmon returning to spawn for a second and third time has considerably grown - up to 8% of the total amount of spawners which is a very high figure for the Atlantic salmon. The large salmons which spent two and more years in the sea amount to over a half of the spawning migrants in each separate population which absolutely corresponds to their "wild" biological structure. There are many more examples showing the excellent health of the Atlantic salmon in these rivers and the improved natural reproduction.
Fig. The population densities of young salmon 1 year+ and older in the Kharlovka, 1996-2005
Fig. The population densities of young salmon 1 year+ and older in the Rynda, 1996-2005
The rate of mortality caused by hook tackle in the North-East Kola rivers by previous esti-mation (the research is not completed yet and is going to be continued for at least 2-3 years) does not exceed 5-10%. No doubt this is the result of the highly professional work of the fishing guides. In an article in one of Murmansk magazines the guide was called a guardian - a funny word, at first sight. In a way, this is true. In fact the guide always keeps an eye on the fisherman and not only for the safety reason. He will always advise how to "land" the fish in the correct way. All the caught fish are landed by knot-free lift-nets only, and never dragged out of water. The hook is released under water as well as measuring the length; the fish is weighed still in the lift-net. The guide takes the fish with bare hands after they have been kept in the water for a cou-ple of minutes. This helps avoid the risk of thermal burning. You may understand how effective it is if you try it on your wife or girl-friend - keep your hands under running cold water and then touch her… only don't tell her we taught you this! The guide will never allow taking the fish in warm hands with no gloves on. Taking pictures only lasts for 10-15 seconds. The professional guides have all these skills mastered to perfection. Of course it is not easy to reduce the mortality rate if people fish on their own without the help of professional guides. That is why we strongly oppose to all-round implementation of "catch-and-release" everywhere. To release the fish you must first of all want to do it, and angling should meet your intentions and the fishing regula-tions. Forced implementation of "catch-and-release" will bring about river beds covered with dead fish. Then we will really have a problem...
You may wonder what the prospects of salmon "catch-and-release" fishing are. In this arti-cle we have clearly shown that this approach, when applied correctly, may help preserve the treasures of our rivers and even multiply them. However one should remember that the popula-tion of the genuine wild salmon will always be limited by the ecological capacity of the spawn-ing sites which will never exceed what is determined by nature. Salmon fishing is growing popu-lar in geometric progression and every year more and more fishermen come to the Kola Penin-sula. The rapidly developing fishing tourism brings to Murmansk Region considerable social and economic benefits. The wise management in accordance with the agreements of NASCO helps this business field develop without damaging the wild salmon stocks. However if the fishing load on our rivers is too heavy the salmon stocks may be damaged again and the recovery in the northern rivers with their low reproduction rate may take decades or even centuries. Then not only the catch but the fishing load will have to be limited - which means us, my dear anglers.
As to the ethical and moral side of the "catch-and-release", this is a complicated but a little farfetched problem. Doesn't a fisherman with the intention to kill the fish also "torture" it while leading, which gives it the same physical and probably "moral" pain? And if in this struggle the fisherman is luckier one can't help pitying the poor fish: its head will be stoned, or its grills cut which prolongs the suffering by a few more minutes. Let us label this fisherman a sadist and murderer? Naturally he will object, he regards himself as a hunter and breadwinner. In our case, the fish gets a second, or sometimes third or forth chance to survive until spawning and give a new breed - fulfilling its reproductive function which is the purpose of all living beings' lives. But we do not proclaim at every corner that releasing the fish makes us one step closer to God. So, our dear law-abiding fishermen, "to kill or not to kill" is a choice to be made by everybody personally depending on the mentality and preferences, while the offensive words should better be saved for poachers.
"Catch-and-release" salmon fishing has become very popular on the both sides of the At-lantic because of the salmon population depletion (NASCO, 1994; Webb, 1998; Whoriskey et al., 2000; Thorstad et al., 2003) and the share of the released salmon is increasing in the total rod catch which is a tendency for all countries (ICES, 2005). Fly-fishers are the main supporters of this approach, because fly-fishing is certainly the most beautiful and respectable way of fishing, requiring skills which only can be received in the course of long time training. And the training is itself an excellent reason to communicate with the nature, to realize how unique it is. Fly-fishing can change the fisherman's world perception and teach him careful attitude towards every living creature around us.
It is not only due to their professions that the authors of this article consider their goal to preserve and multiply the wild Atlantic salmon population, and they know how this can be achieved. As fishermen, we have made our choice in the dilemma "to kill or not to kill".
We sincerely believe that your hand grasping the silver rudder of the noble salmon will open one day as once ours did. And the heart of the boy that you will bring to your favorite river - your son, or, maybe grandson - will miss a bit like once yours did when you for the first time felt the decisive and powerful tug of this strong and beautiful fish...
The bitter fruit of fishing "intourvention"
Evgeny Berestovsky, Ph.D in biology, the major researcher of ichthyologic laboratory of Murmansk Marine Biology Institute of Kola Science Centre, Russian Academy of Science
Over the last 10-15 years international tourism and fishing magazines, web-pages and Discovery Channel have been actively inviting foreign anglers to enjoy a salmon trophy adventure on the rivers of Kola Peninsula. However, the former tiny camps for 5-6 guests renting modest size areas today have grown into crowded villages on the best fishing rivers; private cottages belonging to certain foreign angling managers tower within protected zones near the picturesque waterfalls, and the salmon catch has multiplied many times. Of course this fishing expansion caused a number of effects which we are going to discuss here. It is worth mentioning that a major part of this report was published in the magazine "?????????? ???????????" (Sporting Angling) 2005/5 and 2005/9. However, the problem is urgent not only for fishermen but both Russian and foreign users of nature resources, and of course hunters, because every hunter is also an ardent fisherman.
Earlier the publishing house of the Kola Scientific Centre has issued a multi-author study "Fish of the small rivers and lakes of the East Murman: biology, ecology, biological resources" in which plentiful information on foreign fishing tourism is given, including a chapter by D.N. Baranets and A.A. Lukin "Sporting and Recreational Fishing and its Prospective in the Kola Peninsula" similar to the extensive one in the "Fisherman - Elite" 2004/2 by D.N. Baranets. I would like to draw special attention to the part where the biological information of salmon fish is given.
Nobody would doubt the economic and environmental benefits of nature and angling tourism. However the analysis of the given data leads to pessimistic conclusions - as it often happens, good intentions brought about negative results.
For example, page 127: "since 1990 licensed fishing has been practiced virtually on all the rivers of Kola Peninsula and the catch has been continuously growing while the share of the salmon catch by foreign tourists is prevailing", and at the same time in figure 61 (page 128) the dynamics of discrimination of the Russian salmon fishermen during 1991-1997 is in fact disavowed while the analogous data for 1998-2004 can simply shock Russian fishermen - the ratio is dozens of times against our favour. Enough to say that the tax revenues from the fishing "intourvention" for the last decade have grown many times and reached $10 million (page 217)! This would be impossible in the civilized countries. In the neighboring Norway all priorities in sporting and recreational fishing are given to the local population and what is left may be shared with guests. Violations of the adopted national regulations are seriously punished. That is why strangers are not too eager to go fishing to this country.
In our country today if you are from Russia and go fishing with take-away under the state license all you can have is a piece of overexploited and fished out river, while on the rivers allocated only for foreign tourists they are escorted by guides and instructors, use helicopters Mi-2 and fish wherever they like blatantly violating their own rules of "catch and release" angling.
A good example - recently the Discovery Channel has shown a commercial film about foreigners' angling tourism at the time of it emergence on the Kola rivers Rynda and Kharlovka. In the film, the foreign guide openly demonstrates fly fishing with "bombers" and flies with double hooks and single hooks with beards forbidden by their own rules. The author of the program, with a naughty smile, explains that fishing there is "for the chosen ones", then he grabs the fish with bare hands and for a couple of minutes poses for the camera. One of the Murmanrybvod high-rank officials after attentive studying of the film had to admit that practically every episode may be prosecuted as violation.
Moreover, the foreigners themselves decide which kind of fish in "their" rivers is useful and which is not. A quotation from the study (page 118): "A considerable impact on the brown trout population in the Rynda was made by uncontrolled poaching during 1980s-1990s and "aggressive" attitude of the tourism companies dealing in salmon fishing and considering brown trout as the major salmon's competitor for the spawning and nursery stretches. This opinion caused a sudden decrease in its number and morph metrics. In the early 1980s in this river even in winter one could easily catch a few brown trout up to 3 kg whereas today such individuals are very rare."
According to fishing guides and inspectors, on the Ponoy and Iokanga rivers the foreigners ordered total "culling" of small summer salmons - grills - presented practically only by males, to make sure the respectable foreign guests catch large trophies more often. I am not sure of the legal side, but scientifically these steps only show the primitive mentality and basic ichtyological ignorance of these fishing managers and their superiors because brown trout has never been salmon's rival and culling of grills destroys the population structure of Atlantic Salmon and causes the adequate increase of the number of dwarf males in the next generation as they are the fresh water mature form. (L.F. Lysenko, E.G. Berestovsky: "The salmon of the Varzuga river".
Now let us return to the "catch-and-release" rule which is being actively lobbied today. A civilized fisherman who respects himself and the nature has always let go small or inedible fish because unlike those competing in killing baby fish, he has a different attitude to the nature of fishing. Everybody has the option to set free the defeated "wild beast" but to release the trophy fish exhausted by struggle only to start hunting for another, then again and again - this is something perverted, contradicting the laws of nature and the ancient hunting instinct. In my opinion, this is not fishing but some cruel entertainment, a show! However, this immoral idea is the core of the "catch-and-release" rule.
Release of the caught salmon is practically no use for the nature because 85-95% of the fish entering a river dies after spawning and the wonderful salmon which is fantastic food in summer will turn into a tasteless half-dead puny creature. I wonder what reasons can explain why the exclusive delicacy should be wasted. The foreigners though hardly worry about that. Their principle is "amused yourself - save for others" (however when they fish on "their own" rivers they disregard this "nonsense" as well as licenses) because it is "an economically efficient form of fish resources use" which allows them scooping up money like in a rental agency.
The technology is simple. First, on the "mutually beneficial conditions" one should obtain the "required" biological grounds and positive expert decision for "catch-and-release" fishing with the permissible death rate of the released fish which is about 5-15%, but usually not exceeding 25%. And if the catch quota in the specific water source is for example 100 fish, by "take away" fishing with enough luck it can be used up rather soon and then fishing must be stopped there. On the other hand when fishing by "catch-and-release" then, according to the obtained biological grounds the limits rises up to 300-500 fish. This makes it reasonable to take control over the whole water source and plan for the whole fishing season expecting profitable business taking into account the wealthy foreign anglers who buy the attractive fishing tours long before the season is open. This is beneficial both for the foreigners and the fish control authorities who receive from the former all kinds of help in protecting the resources of "their own" highly profitable rivers from various competitors. The managers and participants don't care about the salmon which will not give full-value breed after the stress and damage of the lead through the rapids or may not spawn at all, or that in the long run this causes degradation of the population. The important thing for them is to get the maximum profit for the rental period of the river.
I have many times caught a salmon which had been released or slipped off the hook, with torn roes and beaten milts, not to mention the injured noses. But the instinct is blind and the salmon (though does not eat in rivers) snatches the spoon, wobble or fly even after the injury. How good are its chances to survive until spawning after it has been a victim of several clients? And is it fair to talk about the kindness of "catch-and-release"? By the way when the Discovery Channel is showing the Australian fishing showman Mr. Rex Hunt who pulls out the hook with the help of tongs and gives the fish his "kiss of death" and then demonstratively lets the fish go one after another, I would like the viewer to know that when back in the wild that fish is practically doomed to soon death: the pheromone of fear and inadequate behavior will definitely attract predators and even aggression of their relatives.
In the abovementioned study, chapter "Sporting and Recreational Fishing and its Prospective in the Kola Peninsula" on page 220 (fig. 36) the data are commented in the optimistic way: "This data show that "catch-and-release" is growing more and more popular. The positive effect is the growing salmon population in the rivers where this kind of fishing is practiced and the growing catch is a proof of it. For certain, "catch-and-release" angling is the most rational, resource-saving and economically beneficial form of using the fish stocks". How cynical the first phrase is becomes obvious from fig.61 on page 128 showing who fishes for salmon and how many fish is "caught-and-released" on the Kola rivers.
| Salmon "catch-and-release" on Kola Peninsula rivers for 1999-2003 |
| | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Number of fishing rivers | 24 | 24 | 31 | 34 | 75 |
| Number of fishing man-days | 7023 | 6912 | 8468 | 9624 | 11944 |
| Number of fish caught | 11723 | 12135 | 16953 | 25248 | 33862 |
| Salmon daily catch for one fisherman, average | 1.67 | 1.9 | 2.0 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
One will doubt if the second phrase is true after reading the following on page 55: "Sporting "catch-and-release" angling on these rivers was carried out within the approved quotas based on the estimate of the downstream-migrant young fish. However these quotas were not used even 50%. How can this discrepancy between the facts and calculations be explained? During the first years of licensed salmon fishing there was no discrepancy. But lately the seasonal load has grown considerably. This is especially obvious on the Sidorovka river where the load in 1998 exceeded that of 1997 nearly 4.5 times. And in spite of this rise in the number of fishermen the river and expected increase in the fish population the 1998 quota was only used for 39% (in 1997, for 50%). Still bigger discrepancy between the calculations and facts was noticed on the Drozdovka river; it is also noticeable on the Varzina. There is a well-grounded opinion that the estimate of the population is artificially made too high and is not realistic. The fishermen would hardly under-use their quotas on the rivers Sidorovka, Varzina and Drozdovka with no big lake-stretches while the stretch-pits are easily fished out by tourists". Regarding the third phrase, it is enough to remember the cherished profit of $10 million per year (page 217) and no further comment is needed.
It is absolutely obvious that this is the thorough protection of the tourism company's rivers that for the time being ensures the existence of the exploited fish populations but not the promoted "catch-and-release" rule depriving the fishermen of the opportunity to try the exclusive delicacy in order to enhance business success. This is a purely commercial idea originating from American entertainment business but not from traditional FISHING concept. This nonsense could not have been invented by a mentally sane fishing amateur but only by a profit-obsessed entrepreneur with foreign mentality. Our traditional fishing and hunting is the natural form of integration of man and nature to satisfy the ancient provider's instinct; by the way it was praised by all Russian and foreign famous people who were familiar with this passion.
For myself, this means both the plans, arrangements and preparations and the long travel to reach the lonely place and enjoy being alone with the nature when I only take what I can eat there and bring a little home to cook fantastic treats to please friends and relatives. The motives for fishing "tortured-and-throw away" come from the immoral desire to torture and it should be prosecuted for cruelty towards animals under the Criminal Code. Any educated hunter knows that wounded birds must be picked up. Meanwhile fishermen, in fact also hunters (only with a fishing rod), are offered first to torture their trophy and then throw away back, stressed and injured, without worrying what will happen to it, and start to hunt for another, and again and again, filing the river with crippled fish.
To my indignation the Murmanrybvod gave an honest answer: "catch-and-release" is popular abroad because they are short of fish but many people want to catch it so one fish has to be caught by several fishermen. In Russia the situation is just the opposite: in chase of a big trophy foreigners catch too many fish which is impossible to store, that is why the simplest way is to release smaller ones while big trophies can be kept within the quota "catch-and-take away". Let us see the proof in the quoted study, pages 127-128: "One should mention the dark sides of recreational fishing. For example, mostly large salmon females are chosen to be taken away whereas smaller fish are released to the river which causes decrease of the weight-and-size indications of the salmon population… Fishing teams can visit several rivers during one day, using helicopters…"
According to fishing guides and Murmanrybvod officers, on a lucky fishing day every foreign fisherman - for a season the Kola Peninsula receives about 1500 of them (D.N. Baranets, 2002) - "spoils" dozens of salmons on the foreign tourism companies' rivers. I believe this is not sporting fishing but primitive vandalism, similar to wolves' carnage in a ship herd. That is why the heavily promoted idea of this kind of fishing being the most humane and merciful is simply deception in support of the fishing managers which may please either those who make money on it or those who want to have good fun. They don't care about the fish as live creatures or wonderful food - the gift of nature.
If the foreign anglers enjoy this perverted way of relations with Nature due to their mentality, let them do it at home but not in a foreign country where one should not impose their home practice with the support of our greedy for money and pretentious "highly sportsmanlike" fishing elite, but respect the hosts and keep up the national traditions of amateur fishing. When one reads the foreign recommendations how to treat salmon so it survives until the next "client" one assumes they were written by people who have no notion or sense of fishing at all. Words fail me to describe the "writer" who in paragraph 1 of the Regulations (the notorious "Ten Commandments") teaches how to treat the fish when fishing "catch-and-release": "When the fish has taken the hook, lead it quickly and decisively. This will help lower the stress for the fish and its exhaustion of the long-time lead". I would like to see the author of this advice having a fish at least 3-4kg on the hook. Any fisherman who has experience with salmon can confirm that this nonsense will immediately disappear from this mister's silly head.
On the other hand, this idea has always been popular with the "wild" fishers with a spinning made from a thick stick, "Nevskaya" reel, 1mm fishing line and a horrible triple hook. Such instruction helps them avoid the undesirable encounters with fishing control officers. Paragraph 8 concludes: "the time of the fish out of water should not exceed 1 minute". How should the ignorant author know that the death rate of salmon anadromous migrants resulting from 0.5-1 minute in the air is 40 to 70% (Ferguson and Tufts, 1993)? But in real life, when the lucky one wants to take a picture with the trophy from all perspectives, the time of the fish out of water is prolonged almost to lethal, that is why the kind guides sometimes have to take the dying fish back by force from the heartless clients. The last paragraph 10 is a real masterpiece: "Make sure the fish hasn't lain on the bottom lower along the stream". And if it has, what to do next? The recommendations fail to answer. One can dive to get the precious trophy but who will reanimate the drowned fish? I understand, further actions should be taken according to the situation. Curtain down.
It is absolutely clear that the smart moneymakers regard "catch-and-release" as the "sacred cow" which provides their highly profitable business under the generously financed scientific and administrative cover. The unprecedented salmon quotas granted to this purely commercial approach on the rivers occupied by foreigners exceed all reasonable limits and sometimes even the estimated amount of anadromous migrants (which means the right to injure all the spawning fish for sure) because while hurrying to scoop as much money as possible, biology does not matter much, and the important thing is to provide the increasing flow of wealthy aliens who have paid in advance for their Arctic safari with enough salmon to satisfy them; by the way the period of licensed fishing is determined by our officials solely to meet the financial demands of the foreign managers. The result is the lawfulness on our salmon rivers which will eventually bring about disasters worse that those caused by our domestic poachers. The "catch-and-release" principle helps hide the evidence. Meanwhile, the "too attentive" local fishermen who wanted to catch fish under the state license in the territories occupied by foreign tourism companies and insulted by this vandalism were regarded undesirable competitors and eventually persona non grata.
I would like to stress that the foreigners are luring the guides who support the idea of only the respectable and generous foreigners being allowed the "elite" trophy fishing while the local population including the pushy but ignorant "new Russians" should be forbidden to fish for salmon. Inspired by this revelation, the boys in camouflage uniforms start bullying away even the civilized local fishermen; with no witnesses though, for $20 they will let you fish however long and whatever tackle you are using. Such brain-washing.
Today even foreign ichthyologists with delayed concern about the degradation of the spoiled fish population caused by the unlimited greediness in their home water sources cannot tell foe sure how many salmons dies because of the sadistic "torture-and-throw away". According to their calculations the death rate of the injured migrating salmons immediately after release is 50-60% depending on the tackle, physiological factors and water temperature. By the way our ichthyologists used to share this opinion which is proved by the same study, page 83: "This figures were determined based on the accepted by PINRO 50% death rate of the fish caught on hook by "catch-and-release" rule". To compare, 20 years ago the respected salmon researches form PINRO realized the anti-biological essence of this novelty and absolutely opposed to it on the Kola rivers. However time changes, and today, after the "more thorough" field studies including comfortable saying in foreign fishing camps it turned out that the estimated death rate of caught and released salmon in the Ponoy is under 18%, in the rivers of East Murman - 25%. This is reasonable - why offend the providers? At the same time foreign researchers have proved that the "delayed mortality" or sub-lethal effects may happen to fish even in several weeks because of stress and injury. Considering the multiple catch, nobody can say so far how many fish survive and spawn for sure, but the situation is critical by assessment of independent experts. The Americans who were first to face the effects of "catch-and-release" no longer have the illusion of rivers teeming with fish" (Hooton, 2001), that is why they prefer to "stifle" salmon in other countries.
Some honest fishing control officers and guides admit that this kind of fishing kills "a lot of fish". But the former have been ordered "don't touch the foreigners or we may scare them away" which means loss of money, and the latter have to keep silent threatened by immediate loss of their jobs. Just imagine that in 2005 on the Ponoy the foreigners were offered to "catch-and-release" about 30 000 salmons, of which at least half was doomed to death from injuries even before spawning, a few more thousand were sentenced to "catch-and-keep"; after the season the lion's share of the remainder will be scoped by the camp security personnel and their guests who first had to stay away from this "fish pie". Still less is known about the genetic effects of these perverted experiments where our rivers are used as laboratory mice. However even the physiologists working for the managers admit the noticeable decrease in the amount and quality of the new generation brought by caught and released fish (Cooke et al., 2002). That is why this passage by one of the study's author seems unreasonably optimistic (pages 126-127): "Even in the worst possible case when half of the released fish does not take part in spawning, this way of Atlantic Salmon stocks exploitation is beneficial not only economically but in respect of preservation of its population and its recovery in the rivers which have suffered from the man-caused impact". Anyway, it is impossible to demand impartial research independent of foreign tourism firms in the existing commercial conditions on the Kola rivers.
That is why I believe there is no point waiting until the precious salmon populations (our common treasure, by the way) begin dying out on Kola Peninsula. We should take into account other people's negative experience, dispel the myth of the "humane and harmless" "catch-and-release" which is carelessly promoted and imposed - bringing about negative tendencies in the traditionally oriented fishermen's mentality and perverting the concept "FISHING". This commercial vandalism must be prohibited in our national territory which has already been done in a number of countries where fish is taken good care of (Cooke et al., 2002), for example in Canada, thus preventively restricting this "intourvention" within reasonable limits, return the priority right to the licensed fishing by the local people by strictly controlled "catch-and-keep". Then everything will return to its norm - the control of outtake amount, and our traditional values. And those who are too concerned about the recreational fishing economic efficiency for their own pockets should not forget that greediness is the root of all evil!
WATER TEMPERATURES AT THE ASR
IN THE 2003 SEASON
It should be noted that June 2003 was unusually cold so that the fish were slowed down at the beginning of the season. The rise in temperature at the beginning of September was highly unusual and tended to put the fish down. Normally a beginning and end temperature around 5C is to be expected and this is ideal for early and late fishing. Surprisingly our rivers continue fishing through the annual temperature peak.
There is a correlation between the river temperature differentials and the extent of lakes systems in the river watersheds. The ice in the lakes behaves in the same way as the ice in your drink. For this reason the Rynda/Zolotaya rivers always start fishing 7/10 days later than the Kharlovka/Litza systems.
The Kharlovka salmon become energised and start to show an interest in surmounting First Waterfall after a sustained temperature period of 15C plus. For this reason they are seen to do so in the last quarter of July and into August.
SOME OBSERVATIONS ABOUT BIG FISH
AT KHARLOVKA
The Russian scientists are coming up with some fascinating conclusions following the 2002 Radio Tagging programme and the spawning survey of the Kharlovka River. We now know why the Kharlovka has such a high proportion of big fish compared with other salmon rivers.
Of the 30 MSW fish radio monitored 50% ascended the 1st waterfall in the second half of July. In addition trial angling caught and studied 66 other fish above the falls. Of these 66 specimens not one single fish was a grilse. The average weight of the fish caught in 40 kilometres above the falls was an 16.2 lbs. The average weight of all Kharlovka rod caught MSW salmon in 2002 below the falls was 14.3 lbs. Indeed as fresh fish the gap would be even wider. Therefore not only do no grilse ascend the falls but also only the fittest of the MSW salmon make it. The four new beats we have developed above Kharlovka 1st Waterfall are going to be a veritable big fish paradise in August and September 2003. Of course up until then the MSW fish will be held back by the falls allowing anglers the June and July bonanza they have become accustomed to in the lower reaches but for some the more interesting fishing is now going to be in the autumn.
Of the total number of fish caught in Kharlovka during the 2002 season only 14% were grilse as against 40% to 60% on other large North Kola Coast rivers. Why such a small percentage of small fish? The answer lies in the spawning survey. It has been discovered that 75% of the Kharlovka spawning beds are in the first 40 kilometres above the 1st Waterfall as against only 25% in the 10 kilometres below. Kharlovka 1st Waterfall acts as natural selection for the biggest and best fish. The prize for the 50% of salmon fit enough to leap the falls is three times the spawning territory of those left behind without any competition from their smaller brethren. That is why the Kharlovka has by far the highest proportion of MSW fish in the Kola and 50% of them are likely to be bigger and stronger. To compete with Kharlovka in density of MSW salmon a river with a 45% grilse population without similar advantages would need to be over three times the size.
For quality big salmon fishing it is not the size of the river that counts it is the proportion of grilse, the spawning competition and poaching which we have eliminated from our rivers.
The Kharlovka Radio Tagging Project - 2002
Prior to 1998, when we took over the management of the Kharlovka River, western anglers believed that salmon could not surmount 1st Waterfall, which is 9 kilometres from the sea. Their fishing experience in the previous ten years had been confined to the lower water so that the myth became fact. Meanwhile the Kharlovka fishing often went rather slow during late July and August, whereas Eastern Litza often was at its best at this time. There had to be reason for this.
In 2000 we began a Wild Brown Trout Program with Loop Tackle starting some 40 kilometres up river. From time to time they reported seeing salmon. More importantly PINRO (Polar Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography) added scientific evidence of parr counts in the Upper Kharlovka and confirmed there were no parr above the Eastern Litza Waterfall. In late August 2001 we sent two rods on a fishing expedition well above the 1st Waterfall. They had a wonderful time taking 11 fish in the day up to 28 lbs. Their description of the magnificent pools and surroundings was such that the name Kharlovka Park came to mind and that is how it is now known. But the best was yet to come. Reid Hagelin went up there a few days later and took three fish in an afternoon one of which was a splendid cock of 42 lbs.
In September 2001, after various other successful forays, we decided it was time to invest in a serious exploration of the whole Kharlovka River to ascertain the potential for sports fishing by fly. If the results were as good as we hoped we knew it would change the whole dimension and reputation of the Kharlovka river and enable us to fish a season of 15 weeks long as is the case at Rynda. We also knew that a fishing program would only be worthwhile if we could establish several beats for one pair of rods to have a full, varied and potentially successful day out.
With these exciting thoughts in mind we approached our friend Orri Vigfusson of the NASF (North Atlantic Salmon Fund) who gave us valuable advise and offered to jointly sponsor the project with us. We established with PINRO of Murmansk that they would cooperate and work with us and received the approval of Murmanryvbod.
On the recommendation of the NASF and PINRO we agreed to extend the project to cover a wider scientific study of the fish and river and, in particular, study the effects of "catch & release". We then got together with the SLU (Swedish University Agricultural Sciences), who have proven record of success in modern radio tagging teqniques, and they agreed to send a scientist with all necessary equipment to work in Russia. Eventually this study will result in a Master thesis through SLU. After much discussion and planning with all parties this joint project began at Kharlovka on 8th June 2002 under the sponsorship of the NASF with scientists from PINRO and the SLU. It was completed on 30th September.
The project was 100% successful both in gaining data and in the sense that we did not lose a single fish. We discovered that the opportunities for fishing are better than expected. A few of us spent days hiking, boating and helicoptering the river. The terrain is beautiful and spectacular. There are fabulous pools and many places to fish. But more importantly we have established four really good beats for a pair of rods to fish from the end July onwards. With distances from the sea they are the Kharlovka Park - 12K, Twin Stream Junction - 17K, 3rd Waterfall - 28K and the Nicu Beat - 37K. Per Stadigh is currently working on his first map impression, and feels the water to be so special that a proper mapping expedition is planned for 2003. We all believe this to be one of the very few, if not the last, serious sections of big salmon water anywhere that remains to be properly explored. Pool names are to be had for successful 2003 visitors!!
Study summary:
In total 30 adult salmon (17 females and 13 males) were tagged. All the fish were caught by our guests using fly-fishing equipment and barbless single or double hooks. The fish were caught from 9th to 26th June 2002 in the first 9 kilometres of the river (the average distance from river mouth was 4,6 km). Immediately after landing each fish were tagged with a uniquely coded radio-tag. The salmon sampled ranged in length between 73-99 cm (mean 86 cm) and in weight 4,6-10,3 kg (mean 7,19 kg). Nearly all salmon in the study were 2 Sea-winter fish with some 3 SW.
Most of the first fish were tagged in Rock Pool where they stayed for some time. We began to be concerned that they were genetically programmed to remain there. So we started to tag the remainder up river to 1st Waterfall. But after a while the fish started moving up and down the river. Of course the surprise is in the downward migration that on occasions was quite extraordinary. One fish was monitored above Guy's Pool in the morning and reappeared in Home Pool the same afternoon - about 3 kilometres down. (Nobody seems to know why the fish do this - Perhaps it is to find the right mate or maybe even to flex their muscles before attempting the falls.)
 Then after a period on the river's lower sections fish started to jump the 1st Waterfall. It all started on 15th July when the water temperature was 16.5C and the water level in Home Pool 14 cms. This was incredibly exciting. On occasions we saw great fish that appeared to be over 50 lbs. But just as amazing fish of 10 lbs were also able to surmount the fantastic cascade of water that must have a height differential of some 4 metres. (We are told they do this by taking a run at the back thrust and then leaping at exactly the right moment. But this in itself is not enough because they must then re-enter the crest at precisely the right angle above the vertical white water. The energy put into this must be enormous and one has to remember they succeed only after several attempts.)
In the end one half of the tagged fish (15) migrated upstream. It is interesting that PINRO predicted this on the basis that half of the good spawning grounds are below the 1st Waterfall and half above. Although the first fish passed the waterfall on the 15th of July the majority made it through around the 25th-26th of July. (10 fish passed on the period 25th of July to 1st of August) Fish that passed the 1st waterfall didn't seem to have a problem with the 2nd but instead head right for their spawning grounds upstream without stopping a lot. The first fish at the third waterfall (29k up river) was discovered on the 23rd of July. This fish had passed the 1st w-fall on the 15th of July giving it about a week to complete the 20 km of fast running water in the Park and Canyon. This fish was tracked again on the 26th of July at a distance of 35,5 km from the river mouth. Passing the 3rd w-fall doesn't seem to be a problem at this time. 67% of the individuals that passed 1st waterfall were females and only 1 male made it through the 3rd waterfall.
(Whilst no scientific conclusions. However we have long suspected that seriously large males slip through the system unoticed and much earlier.)
 The last tracking of the fish were made on the 30th of September. Most fish were then still at the spawning grounds and some even appeared to have finished their spawning as they had started to migrate downstream. 7 of the tagged fish had still not reached their spawning grounds. Instead they were standing under the falls. These fish were probably not strong enough to make it back to their home pools but will most certainly spawn late on the lower Kharlovka. Competition between juveniles is probably high on this section due to high numbers of spawners resulting in high density of parr and increased pre-smolt mortality. It still remains to be evaluated statistically if migration speed and distance is correlated to sex, size, age, water temperature or level. Surmounting the falls was associated with the highest temperature of the season indicating that this might be an important factor. Fish are exothermal meaning that up to a certain temperature their metabolism increases and muscular activity are enhanced making it easier to leap and swim through natural obstacles.
It should be emphasised that all 30 out of 30 fly caught and radio tagged fish survived through to spawning. Of these 4 had been re-caught without any obvious harm. As one can assume that the tagged fish have been under more stress than those that are normally caught and released, it is safe to conclude that sports fishing activity has no discernable impact on the stock.
click on chart for a larger chart |
click on chart for a larger chart |
We would like to thank Dmitry Kuzmin of PINRO and Joakim Eriksson of SLU for having made some of their raw data available for the Northern Rivers Company in order to compile this status report.
Any information contained in this website is produced in good faith but is only a guideline.
The Northern Rivers Company cannot be held responsible should the information be subject to change.
THE NORTHERN RIVERS COMPANY
str. Starostina 31, Murmansk
183071 Russia
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