OCEAN AND HUMANKIND: THE UNION OF COMMON SENSE RESULTS OF THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PACIFIC FISHERIES

Today as never before, the world is preoccupied with the problem of food provision for the humankind in the XXI century. Therefore, it was not by accident that the main item on the agenda of the Fourth International Conference on Pacific Fisheries concerned food: How can we feed the population of the Earth in the next century? Only ocean is capable of solving this problem. It possesses that colossal, yet untapped, reserve of food proteins, which will mitigate, if not eliminate at all, all currently sustained food shortages. A special emphasis at the Conference was given to a great food potential lying in the North Pacific seas in particular, the ecologically cleanest and biologically most productive region of the world ocean.

However, to be able to exploit the marine riches in a most efficient manner, we need to work out an integral fishing policy in this part of the world ocean, which in turn will consist of individual policies of the leading fishing nations in the Pacific: Japan (which capital city hosted the Fourth International Conference on Pacific Fisheries from April 21 through 24, 1997), USA (initiating the Conference), Russia, Canada, China, and Republic of Korea.

Russian Federation continues to be among the largest fishing nations of the world. The Russian Far East is the foundation of the fishing industry of this state. So, not to reckon with, not to exhibit respect to, or not to think of a union with Russia would be detrimental for either partners or neighbors.

Nature knows no borderlines, and today many troublesome symptoms of incalculable damage to its resources become world tragedy. All attending countries talked about the commonplace drop in traditional and most voluminous harvested species. Probably, fishing of these species has already reached its apogee, and further perspectives of increase in fishing will take on either of the two following directions: increase in fishing of non-traditional species (remember that pollock until very recently was a non-traditional species for Russian and American fisheries , but now pollock filet and surimi is a gourmet specialty), and development of aquaculture. Although, here we are also faced with certain costs. First of all, this concerns salmon breeding as one of the most advanced branches of aquaculture. The artificially reared chum salmon originating from Hokkaido and Sakhalin ousts the salmon born in natural conditions in the Russian Far East from the feeding grounds in the high seas. There's so many of the farmed salmon that they start to undermine the oceanic feeding resources.