Abstract
In 2019-2022, the Black Sea anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus ponticus Alexandrov, 1927) was wintering off the western and southern coasts of Crimea, where it was subjected to heavy exploitation by the Russian fishers. The conditions resulting in the active autumn migration of the Black Sea anchovy into Crimean waters are of great scientific and practical concern. This study examines the course of the Black Sea anchovy fishing and the oceanographic conditions for its entry, migration and wintering near the southern coast of the peninsula in November and December 2021. The daily data from the FSBI “Centre of Fishery Monitoring and Communications” have been used, as well as the satellite imagery data sets of the sea surface heights and temperatures from the Copernicus Marine Service information system website. Altimetry data were used in the grid nodes with a resolution of 0.125 degrees, and temperature data were used in the grid nodes with a resolution of 0.05 degrees. Relocation of the Black Sea anchovy to Crimea in mid-November was caused by strengthening of the southeastern currents in the waters to the west of the peninsula, associated with the northern position of the Sevastopol Anticyclonic Vortex, as well as with relatively high sea surface temperatures beyond the shelf zone. In contrast to 2019 and 2020, in November and December 2021, an intense thermodynamic frontal zone of the main Black Sea current was located 15-30 miles offshore to the south of Crimea, which became a natural barrier to further migration of the Black Sea anchovy southwards and determined its distribution on the southern shelf of the Crimean Peninsula. The Black Sea anchovy fishing season in 2021/2022 off the coast of Crimea (as opposed to the previous two fishing seasons) was characterized by its relatively early start and the shift of the fishing operations eastwards to Cape Chauda.
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