The Progress of Pacific Salmon Hatchery Culture in the Sakhalin-Kuril Region and Its Importance for Fishery

Abstract

In the Sakhalin-Kuril region, there are two species of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus gorbuscha and O. keta) that are hatchery-cultured for commercial fishery. We have analyzed the long-term data on numbers of juveniles both migrating from spawning grounds and being released from hatcheries, and their following catches during returns of fishes of the corresponding brood-year populations. The problem of effectiveness of pink salmon culture relatively to the increase in their commercial catches is shown to remain controversial. At the same time, some changes in chum salmon hatchery culture since the 1990s (reconstruction of the operating hatcheries, progress in biotechnology, appearance of new hatcheries with a private property form) have led to a substantial growth of their catches. In the recent years a method of the out-of-hatchery culturing of chum juveniles began to be approbated.