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Experts Say U.S. Fish in Russian Waters

Posted on: Sunday, 19 October 2008, 15:00 CDT

Fishery experts say warmer waters are driving valuable stocks of Alaskan pollack further up the Bering Sea toward the nets of Russian fishing boats.

Currently, more than 2 billion pounds of pollack are caught by U.S. fishing boats and brought to port in Alaska to feed a global market with fish sticks, fast-food sandwiches and imitation crab meat, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

As winter ice disappears and temperatures rise, however, pollack and other fish are moving to colder water in higher latitudes across an international boundary that could spark a dispute with Russia, said Andrew Rosenberg, former deputy director of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

"It will be a food security issue and has an enormous potential for political upheaval," said Rosenberg. "We aren't getting along that well with the Russians now."

What used to be an occasional run toward Russian waters now has become commonplace, confirmed Alaskan fisherman Jim Summers. "It feels like every year we're going farther and farther north," Summers said.

Source: United Press International

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