The aim of the work is to obtain up—to-date data for the assessment of commercial aggregations of bottom-dwelling fish, crabs and craboids in Western Siberia.‑In the Kamchatka subzone at depths of 10-150 m, as well as to identify clusters of pelagic fishing objects in the Primorye subzone.
The area of the studied water area exceeded 33 thousand square kilometers. From June 18 to July 27, scientists performed 111 trawls, measured more than 20 thousand specimens of fish and over 600 samples of invertebrates, conducted bioanalysis of 138 specimens of fish and more than 8.5 thousand specimens of invertebrates. It is noteworthy that for the first time in recent years, the Vladimir Safonov was involved in search operations for pelagic objects — usually such tasks are solved by one of the ships of the CCG‑East.
Interim results show relatively high biodiversity: 80 fish species have been identified, while data on invertebrates (crabs, craboids, holothurians, and buccinids) are still being processed. The biomass of fish is estimated at 1.17 million tons: the largest share is occupied by flounders (36%, about 420 thousand tons), followed by pollock (17%), navaga (13%), hornfish (11.5%), cod (7%) and herring (about 6%). At the same time, the biomass of herring — 69 thousand tons — exceeds the average annual values. In addition, sparse acoustic recordings of schooling pelagic fish have been recorded in the Ussuriysky Bay.
The collected materials will become the basis for stock assessment and forecasting of the total allowable catch and recommended catch for 2028, as well as for clarifying forecasts for 2027.
VNIRO Press Service
