Kamchatka experts assessed smelt catches on Lake Nerpichy in Kamchatka
Photo of KamchatNIRO
Specialists of the Kamchatka branch of VNIRO (KamchatNIRO) have completed research on the state of stocks of Asian smelt in Lake Nerpichy in Ust-Kamchatsk, Kamchatka.Today reports. The total daily catches were significantly lower than last year.
In the period from January 17 to February 4, KamchatNIRO specialists monitored the entire lake area, following the standard layout of the stations. The complex of collected scientific data necessary to assess the state of smelt stocks included such quantitative indicators as the average catch per fisherman, as well as the number of amateur fishermen in the water on weekdays and weekends, allowing to estimate the daily catch of the species. Temperature conditions during this period were very diverse: from -25 °C to -1 °C, and wind strength from 3 to 20 m/s.
“The most productive smelt biting recorded on Lake Nerpichye was recorded on January 20, when the catch per fisherman was 134 specimens. The minimum daily catch, noted by the observers, was on February 4 — 15 specimens per person, the institute reported. – The number of amateur fishermen who visited the lake was estimated in the range from 50 to 150 people. It was especially crowded on the lake on January 27 and 28, when the presence of 135 and 150 fishermen, respectively, was visually recorded.”
The total daily catch of smelt on Lake Nerpichy during the observation period ranged from 1,050 to 5,670 specimens per day, averaging about 3,500 specimens. Compared to last year, this figure was significantly lower, experts say.
Lake Nerpichye is a brackish-water lagoon-type lake located on the east coast of Kamchatka in the lower reaches of the Kamchatka River, near the village of Ust-Kamchatsk (Petropavlovsk-Komandorskaya subzone). The average depth of the lake is 3.4 m, the maximum depth is 12 m. The lake is one of the largest feeding and spawning ponds of the Asian toothy smelt in the Kamchatka Territory. In the second half of December, maturing fish begin to feed in the Nerpichye. Foraging migrations continue throughout the winter and the first half of spring. Smelt spawns in April and May. It is during the winter and spring period, when significant feeding accumulations form in the lakes, mass ice fishing is carried out here.