Russian fishery authorities and WWF sign cooperation agreement

The Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Russia have signed an agreement outlining safeguards for Russia's marine biological resources and the environment. 

Signed by Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries Head Ilya Shestakov and WWF-Russia Director Dmitry Gorshkov, the document also calls for closer efforts between WWF and the Russian government to study marine life and find more efficient ways to utilize it. 

“Fisheries are an industry of strategic importance for Russia. Our regulation tasks are the organization of effective fishing and the conservation of fish stocks. Environmental protection and the sustainability of ecosystems are very important for the reproduction of species,” Shestakov said during the signing ceremony, according to an agency press release. “It’s of special importance now for Pacific salmon, stocks of the Volga River, the Caspian Sea, and Lake Baikal."

WWF said it is ready to share relevant information collected by its experts with the agency’s scientific organizations and provide technical assistance in establishing better knowledge of fishery zones. 

“We have been cooperating with the Russian Federal Agency for Fisheries for many years,” Gorshkov said. “At the moment, one of our key priorities is to save woods of high value along rivers. We hope that we will be able to solve difficult tasks in the conservation of endangered species, the sustainability of fishing, and the organization of protection of marine resources.”

The agreement is valid for five years, with the ability to be automatically prolonged as long as neither signatory has an objection. 

In 2020, WWF successfully urged three Russian fisheries and a trade association to sign an agreement on reducing the use of bottom trawls in the Barents Sea.