As the leading industry in Kamchatka's economy, the fishing industry has a complex and diversified structure. In additions to fishery sub-sectors and companies (fishing, fish processing, the conservation and reproduction of fish resources), the fishing industry includes a number of subsidiary and service industries and companies, as well as elements of industrial and social infrastructure, the most important being ship repair, construction, transport, ports, fish packaging and the production of fishing nets. The fishing and fish farming industries account for about 20% of Kamchatka's gross regional product.
The fishing and fish processing industry in Kamchatka includes about 300 industrial enterprises (more than 30% of the territory's industrial enterprises). Despite the fact that the number of small businesses in Kamchatka increases every year, the bulk of the industry's output is produced by large and medium-sized companies that account for over 80% of all the fish produced and processed in Kamchatka.
About 200 of these companies have quota shares for catching marine biological resources and are leasing fishing areas on a long-term basis. Of the 170 fish processing plants, 16 produce canned fish. The plants' total daily output is about 11,000 tonnes of frozen products, 800 cans of fish. Containers for frozen products can store over 100 tonnes of fish.
The fishing industry accounts for 50% of the total industrial production in Kamchatka, which is the highest rate among the regions of the Far Eastern Federal District and in Russia on the whole (for example, in the Sakhalin Region the fishing industry accounts for 31% of the total output, in the Primorye Territory - 26%, and in the Magadan Region - 8%).
Kamchatka's fishermen annually produce an average of up to 19% of Russia's fish catch and seafood production and almost a quarter of the Far Eastern Federal District's production.
Five types of Pacific salmon and over 40 marine species, of which 16 are marine fish, are caught through industrial and other types of fishing in the marine fishing areas surrounding the Kamchatka Territory. About 1.2 million tonnes of biological resources are caught annually in Kamchatka's rivers and surrounding seas. This includes about 1 million tonnes of marine fish, 150,000-200,000 tonnes of salmon, 20,000 tonnes of invertebrates, including 10,000 tonnes of crab and about 30,000 tonnes of seaweed.
In 2010, the total amount of aquatic biological resources in Kamchatka's fisheries is 1,618,000 tons, of which 756,000 tons (47%) has been caught as of July 2010.
On average, over 40% of the catch is used in making fish products and canned food. The rest is used in the production of non-food goods for the domestic market.
Exports of fish and seafood totalled $428.2 million in 2009, 86% up from the previous year.
More than 85% of all fish and seafood is exported as raw materials and semi-finished products of a low processing level (chilled and frozen fish). Pollack makes up the bulk of the exports (48%). The countries of the Asia-Pacific region (the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore) and Europe (Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, and France) are the main consumers of fish from Kamchatka.
In addition to the ocean catch, freshwater fish such as carp, saffron cod, herring and smelt are caught in the full-flowing rivers and lakes of Kamchatka.