Kirill Kolonchin reported on the first results of VNIRO's Large African Expedition, which ended in early 2026. A large-scale expedition on two scientific research vessels, which has no analogues in the modern history of Russia, started in August 2024 from Kaliningrad and for a year and a half explored the coastal waters of six countries - Morocco, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Guinea, Sierra Leone and Mozambique.
Scientists of the fisheries science took more than 1.5 tons of samples of aquatic biological resources, measured about 300 thousand and analyzed about 60 thousand specimens. Such large-scale research by Russian scientists in the waters of the African continent has not been conducted for almost 40 years, since the early 80s of the last century. Colleagues from coastal African countries worked together with Russian scientists aboard VNIRO scientific vessels, establishing mutually beneficial scientific and technical exchange and scientific partnership.
"The Great African expedition has shown that Russia is a country that adheres to the principles of responsible fishing in any area of the World Ocean. It can be said that the result of its implementation, along with obtaining valuable scientific materials, is the development and strengthening of cooperation with the coastal countries of Africa, strengthening the position of the Russian Federation in the oceans. There are real prerequisites for expanding the geography and scale of domestic fishing," said Alexey Gordeev, Director of VNIRO.
Then the discussion touched upon the renewal of the naval component of the VNIRO State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation and the construction of two new research vessels (NIS) of project 17050 - "Professor Peter Moiseev" and "Professor Anatoly Elizarov" for the needs of fisheries science. The new research institutes, developed taking into account the current requirements for the scientific fleet, after commissioning will allow Russian scientists to multiply the volume of research conducted, which, in turn, will provide the fisheries industry with accurate data to intensify fishing and strengthen Russia's food security. VNIRO scientists are looking forward to the commissioning of new vessels.
The director of the Institute also reported on the completion of the construction of the Research Institute "Vikenty Zaitsev", which in May this year will begin work on the largest freshwater body of the planet – Lake Baikal. The modern vessel, equipped with high-tech scientific equipment, was built by Russian shipbuilders as part of import substitution from domestic components.
At the end of the meeting, Kirill Kolonchin reported to Alexey Gordeev on the forecast of the domestic catch for 2027, which is based on the justifications of the total allowable catches prepared by scientists of the fisheries science. Based on forecasts prepared by industry science, the Russian fisheries complex demonstrates a steady increase in the catch of aquatic biological resources and the self-sufficiency of the population with fish products.