The recreational fishing season for West Kamchatka Chinook salmon is drawing to a close. By mid-summer, 90 percent of the catch quota for the largest Pacific salmon species had been exhausted. The Bolshaya River basin accommodated the majority of anglers, recording the sale of nearly 12,500 fishing permits. More than 3,000 of these licenses were issued under a catch-and-release policy, a measure implemented to minimize the impact on the local population.
As the Chinook fishery winds down, fishing activity is shifting toward other river systems and salmon species. In early July, the harvest of chum and pink salmon commenced on the Paratunka and Avacha rivers, where approximately 1,000 permits were purchased during the first few weeks. Across the peninsula’s three most popular river destinations, anglers have secured a total of more than 13,400 licenses.
Recreational spin fishing has been underway on the region’s other waterways since the beginning of summer. Meanwhile, the use of fishing nets by private individuals remains strictly regulated and is scheduled to coincide with the commercial fishing season. In the Ust-Bolsheretsky and Sobolevsky districts, this type of net fishing was authorized starting in mid-July. This regulatory synchronization enables state environmental inspectors to monitor the rivers more effectively during the mass salmon migration.
The cost of fishing permits for local residents this year is directly correlated with the rarity of the species. A license to catch a single Chinook salmon costs 800 rubles, which is equivalent to the price for three cherry salmon. Alternatively, an expenditure of 660 rubles allows for the legal harvest of twenty pink salmon. Strict daily limits – restricted to no more than one Chinook or ten chum salmon per person – serve as the primary mechanism to protect Kamchatka rivers from the depletion of fish stocks.