Unlike Sakhalin, salmon can be caught in the Kamchatka Territory only on vouchers. But is it fair? The publication “Fisherman of Kamchatka” publishes a special opinion on this matter by Vyacheslav Smorodin, a representative of the Kamchatka fishing community.:
“Taking into account the inability of the authorities to provide old-timers with minimal amounts in the image and likeness of the indigenous and small-numbered peoples of the north, it is hard to believe that at least someone from the leadership of the region (governor, target ministers, members of the legislative assembly) will go to a meeting with the people of the region.
Only the governor knows why this situation has developed in Kamchatka. It is clear that this whole situation has become possible with the doomed silence of the population, but this cannot last forever.
The amateur fishermen quieted down for a while, believing the governor in a certain fairness of distribution in favor of local fishermen in the ratio of 80% to 20% of visitors. In fact, the situation is completely different. It’s just that no one is paying attention to it.
I suggest you think a little bit. The total number of registered fishing bases and tent campsites on the Bolshaya River is 736 places per day. Unlike an amateur angler with a local residence permit who plays catch-not-catch Russian roulette every day, tour organizers practically guarantee 100% of the catch. And we don’t even doubt it. We doubt something else!
Can you believe that a fisherman who has come thousands of kilometers away will not bring home a single kilogram of royal fish? So we can’t either! Moreover, all bases are equipped, if not with salting workshops, then with more or less decent vacuum cleaners.
I repeat, with a 100% guarantee of success (catch), 736 tourist fishermen will remove 33 tons 120 kg from their habitat during the chinook fishing season, which lasts from 1.06 to 15.07 (45 days)! And this is provided that their daily catch is only 1 kg. But we are not small children, and we see, hear, and observe how many guided boats are brought to the camps every day. The only people who don’t see it are those who should!
It should be recalled that the annual volume of chinook salmon released on the Bolshaya River since 2020 is 38 tons. And the stupid questions begin!
Is the Bolshaya River able to bear the burden of such a press? Is fishing tourism necessary in Kamchatka, given that the state of chinook stocks is of deep concern?! Is 33 tons 20% of the allocated volume or according to the sold permits for nonresident fishermen?
It is clear that it is much more pleasant for owners of fishing grounds to work with tourists than with local fishermen. But by declaring a “fair” distribution to the local population in the ratio of 80% to 20%, did the governor confuse some agency with monitoring his order?
For obvious reasons, the regional Ministry of Fisheries is not up to problems with amateur fishing. Investment quotas, payments to the budget and other higher matters.
Perhaps it’s time for the governor to meet with a representative of the fishing community of the region? I am referring now to Dmitry Alexandrovich Andrusenko, Chairman of the Kamchatka Salmon Association. Moreover, the governor plans to continue working in the region, and it’s time to get into the problems of this large category of citizens.
Otherwise, it turns out that we won’t give you any free tails, and the aborigines (local people, that is) suck their paws on the allocated plots!”