Crab Harvest Quota Exceeded in Russia’s Far East

VLADIVOSTOK. August 17. VOSTOK-MEDIA – Russian crab exports to Japan, the US, South Korea and China have exceeded official figures on crab harvest two times, said Dmitry Dremlyuga, President of Far Eastern Fishermen’s Union.

Citing data from foreign customs statistics, Dremlyuga said that in the period January to June 2010 some 36,000 tons of crab was exported to these countries, even though official data show that only about 16,500 tons of different kinds of crab was harvested at the Far Eastern fishing basin, Gazeta.ru wrote.

“That’s the scale of the illegal fishing that we are facing now. And despite all the measures Russia takes to combat poaching the situation remains the same,” said Dmitry Dremlyuga, reminding that “export of live crab from Russia is forbidden by law”.

He also said there is no official data so far on how much Russian crab products had passed customs clearance for export in the past six months. “But I think that the difference between the foreign statistics and official catch figures will be three or even four times higher,” he said.