The official spoke after rescued crew members and bodies of the victims were transported to the port of Korsakov on the Sakhalin Island, earlier in the day.
"It was a series of mistakes that caused the tragedy. There was overweight, then there was lack of rescue equipment, then there was a crew error. […] In part they wanted to take more fish," Oleg Kozhemyako told journalists.
On Saturday, Kozhemyako said that the shipwreck was likely caused by the crew's failure to comply with safety rules.
The Dalniy Vostok trawler sank in the Sea of Okhotsk shortly before midnight on April 1. The accident claimed the lives of 56 of the 132 people on board the vessel.
A search continues for the 13 crew members that are still unaccounted for, though it is unlikely that any of the missing sailors have survived in the freezing water.
There were 81 Russians and 51 foreigners on board the trawler.
