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EveryFish

🇷🇺 Fish of Russia

48 fish from Russia, best known first.

Russia operates one of the world’s largest fishing industries, leveraging a vast coastline and extensive inland waters to harvest millions of tonnes annually. Despite significant production volumes, the sector faces challenges from aging fleets, bureaucratic hurdles, and declining fish stocks due to overfishing and pollution.

  • Russia holds the fourth longest coastline globally, accessing twelve seas.
  • Wild capture fisheries produced 3.2 million tonnes in 2005.
  • Sturgeon stocks are heavily depleted due to poaching and overfishing.
  • Two-thirds of the offshore fishing fleet fails to meet safety norms.
  • East Asian markets drive high export volumes of unprocessed seafood.

Fish of Russia

The Russian Federation possesses the fourth longest coastline globally, granting access to twelve seas across three oceans and the landlocked Caspian Sea. This extensive aquatic territory supports a major commercial industry that ranks among the top ten worldwide producers. In 2005, wild capture fisheries yielded nearly 3.2 million tonnes, while aquaculture contributed approximately 115,000 tonnes. The sector accounts for roughly 2.3 percent of global fish production. Although the absolute catch volume has remained stable in recent years, its share of the national economy has shrunk as broader economic growth continues. The industry is governed by federal laws that categorize activities into industrial, recreational, and subsistence sectors, though enforcement and management structures have undergone frequent reorganization since the early nineteen nineties.

Notable species

Inland waters host sixty species, with whitefish, cyprinids, zanders, and perch being the most significant by volume. Marine catches include Alaska pollock, redfish, halibut, cod, flounder, and salmon. Sturgeon populations in the Azov, Caspian, Siberian rivers, and Amur basin are heavily depleted due to poaching and historical pressure. Pacific pilchard, Atlantic and Pacific herring, capelin, and sea cucumber stocks have also declined significantly. Invasive species like sprat have altered ecosystems in the Black and Caspian Seas. Aquaculture farms primarily cultivate buffalo, grass, and silver carp, rainbow trout, scallops, mussels, and laminaria seaweed.

Seas and rivers

Marine fisheries operate within territorial seas, internal waters, and the exclusive economic zone covering twelve seas. These include the Barents, White, Baltic, Black, and Azov Seas in the Atlantic; the Kara, Laptev, East Siberian, and Chukchi Seas in the Arctic; and the Bering, Okhotsk, and Japan Seas in the Pacific. Inland systems comprise over two million rivers and major lakes such as Baikal, Ladoga, and Onega. The Ob-Irtysh River Basin is the most critical inland fishing area, contributing about twenty-seven percent of inland catches. Rivers like the Volga, Lena, Yenisei, and Amur support diverse freshwater habitats essential for commercial and subsistence harvesting.

Fishing and farming

Commercial operations utilize midwater trawls for pollock, bottom trawls for demersal fish, and drift nets for salmon. Small vessels employ traps, pots, seines, and dredges for crustaceans and shellfish. The fleet includes thousands of offshore and inland boats, but many vessels are outdated and fail to meet safety norms. About two-thirds of the offshore fleet is considered elderly and inefficient, leading to lower catch rates compared to modern equivalents. Bureaucratic complexities often bypass coastal processing, resulting in direct export of unprocessed seafood. Aquaculture expansion is hindered by time-consuming licensing and sanitary certification processes, despite government targets for future growth.

Fish in culture

Subsistence fishing remains vital for indigenous groups living along estuaries, lagoons, and rivers, particularly for anadromous species. Traditional communities like the Pomor on the White Sea coast maintain yearly fishing cycles that define their lifestyle. However, administrative decisions in the late nineteen sixties led to the abandonment of many coastal villages, disrupting cultural traditions and contributing to social issues like poverty and alcohol abuse. Recreational fishing occurs nationwide, with notable value generated by Atlantic salmon catches on the Kola Peninsula. Artisanal fishing lacks a formal legal definition, often overlapping with industrial categories, while illegal poaching persists due to economic hardship and lack of public engagement in resource management.

Today

Russian fisheries struggle to meet domestic demand as exports to East Asian markets prioritize high-value species. Illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing exacerbates stock depletion, driven by corruption and strong trade links with Japan, China, and South Korea. Management reforms are slowly emerging, with new legislation potentially addressing coastal fisheries and aquaculture. The government aims to boost aquaculture production through subsidies and infrastructure development. Conservation efforts face obstacles from aging fleets and inconsistent policy implementation. Sustainable management requires reviving traditional practices and improving regulatory oversight to protect vulnerable stocks like sturgeon and salmon.

Where this page comes from

The facts in this overview come from the Wikipedia article "Fishing industry in Russia", written by its contributors and used under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence. EveryFish rewrote the text in its own words, with AI assistance, and compares every page with the article to make sure no passage is copied. It may be reused under the same CC BY-SA 4.0 licence with a link back.

Reef or seaRiver or lakeFishing harbourFish marketAquarium or researchCity

Fish places in Russia

Lake Baikal 1The Caspian Sea and Volga delta
GroupSharkRayCarpCatfishSalmonidHerringCodTunaPerch-likeCichlidReef fishEelFlatfishLivebearerAncientOther
WaterRivers and lakesEstuaries and mangrovesCoasts and shelvesCoral reefsOpen oceanDeep seaPolar and cold seasCaves and springsBetween sea and river
UseFood fishFarmedAquarium fishSport fishingCulture and faithVenomous or dangerousInvasiveScience and research
OrderBest knownA to ZOldest firstNewest firstBy size
🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreChum salmon A Pacific salmon species known for its large size and wide distribution across the North Pacific.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1836 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreSockeye salmon Anadromous Pacific salmon known for red spawning colour and zooplankton diet.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1792 🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreBurbot A coldwater freshwater fish with a chin whisker, native to the Northern Hemisphere.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1758 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreBaikal black grayling A Siberian freshwater salmonid found in Lake Baikal and surrounding river systems.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇨🇳 China and 1 moreMandarin fish Freshwater predatory perch native to East AsiaPerch-like · Rivers and lakes · 1855 🇺🇦 Ukraine and 4 moreWels catfish A large freshwater catfish native to Europe and Western Asia, known for its size and bottom-feeding habits.Catfish · Rivers and lakes · 1758 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreBarbel Carp-like freshwater fish with distinctive mouth barbelsCarp · Rivers and lakes 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreKokanee salmon A landlocked freshwater form of the sockeye salmon found in North America and Japan.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇺🇸 United States and 4 moreOncorhynchus A genus of migratory fish native to the North Pacific basin.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreDolly Varden trout A cold-water char native to the North Pacific rim.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1792 🇷🇺 Russia and 3 moreSiberian taimen The world's largest salmonid, found in Eurasian rivers.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇷🇺 Russia and 1 moreSakhalin taimen Large, ancient salmonid of Northeast AsiaSalmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 2 moreGrayling A cold-water salmonid fish native to European rivers, prized by anglers for its distinctive dorsal fin.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇨🇦 Canada and 1 moreArctic grayling A cold-water salmon relative with a large, colourful dorsal fin.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1776 🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreNorthern pike A large freshwater ambush predator found across the Northern Hemisphere.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1758 🇷🇺 Russia and 4 moreEuropean perch A greenish freshwater predator native to Europe and North Asia.Perch-like · Rivers and lakes · 1758 🇷🇺 Russia and 2 moreMasu salmon Pacific salmonid native to East Asian coasts and rivers.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreNorthern snakehead A freshwater fish from East Asia known for its air-breathing ability and invasive spread in North America.Other · Rivers and lakes · 1842 🇳🇴 Norway and 4 moreAtlantic salmon A large anadromous fish found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and its rivers.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes · 1758 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreChinook salmon The largest Pacific salmon species, prized for size and food value.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇺🇸 United States and 3 moreCoho salmon Anadromous Pacific salmon known for silver ocean phase and red spawning colours.Salmonid · Rivers and lakes 🇨🇳 China and 4 moreBighead carp A large Asian freshwater fish farmed globally and invasive in North America.Carp · Rivers and lakes 🇬🇧 United Kingdom and 4 moreCrucian carp A European cyprinid known for surviving winter ice by converting lactate to ethanol.Carp · Rivers and lakes 🇺🇸 United States and 2 moreAmerican shad An anadromous fish of the Atlantic coast known for its delicate flesh and cultural festivals.Herring · Rivers and lakes

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

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