On November 12, under the chairmanship of the head of the Department of Marine and Freshwater Fish of Russia, Nikolay Antonov held a regular meeting of the Scientific Advisory Council (NCC) on Herring of the Pacific Ocean under the Board of Directors of the Fisheries Research Institutes. Scientists of the Central Apparatus of VNIRO and its Pacific, Kamchatka, Sakhalin, Magadan, Khabarovsk branches took part in the conference-communication mode.
The session featured presentations on the results of Pacific herring research in 2020.
Experts at the Magadan branch have determined that in 2020, the number and biomass of the spawning stock of the Okhotsk herring were the highest in the last 20 years. This suggests that the total allowable catch of this population will increase in the coming years.
The number and biomass of the spawning herd of gizhiginsky-Kamchatka herring are estimated at the average level.
Research by the Kamchatka branch has shown that stocks of Corfo-Karagin herring in the Bering Sea are currently declining.
According to the Pacific Branch, herring stocks in the West Bering Sea zone remain at high levels due to the 2013-2015 harvest generations, and herring stock in the Primorje subzone is gradually being restored.
Specialists of the Sakhalin branch noted a further increase in the populations of herring of the Gulf of Patience, dextrin and sakhalin-hokkaido, and the herring stocks of North-Eastern Sakhalin are in a stable state.
The Magadan and Kamchatka branches reported separate reports of aerial observations of Pacific herring during the 2020 spawning season.
In addition, the planning of further studies to improve the forecasting of herring catches was discussed, as was the introduction of remote techniques to study herring spawning grounds by unmanned aerial vehicles.
Press Service VNIRO