Russian saury fishery and factors influencing its distribution in the Northwest Pacific Ocean

Abstract

The goal of the work is to identify the roots of the significant decrease in the catch of saury by Russian vessels in the Kuril waters from 2015 to the present, as well as factors influencing the distribution of this fish in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean.Methods used: the work is based on materials on the distribution of saury schools in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean obtained during expeditions on fishing vessels, and trawl surveys on vessels of the Pacific branch of VNIRO (TINRO) from 2012 to 2021. To assess the position of fishing areas and the efficiency of saury fishing, fishing statistics data for 2012–2021 were used in the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean according to vessel daily reports (VDR) and ship positions of the monitoring system of Rosrybolovstvo.Novelty: the work presents the results of the Russian fishery in recent years, and evaluates the effectiveness of the fishery. Based on an analysis of the literature of recent years and data obtained on expeditions to the northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean, the reasons for the decrease in saury catch by Russian fishermen over the past 5 years are considered.Result: The main reasons that caused the shift of the main feeding areas of saury far to the east and north in recent years are global climate and oceanological changes in the Northwestern part of the Pacific Ocean. In addition to the abiotic factors of the pelagic fish habitat, their distribution is also influenced by the interspecific interaction of competing fish with high stock. A large number of factors, both abiotic and biotic, affect the change in the pattern of migration routes and the position of saury feeding areas in the North Pacific Ocean, which ultimately makes it much more difficult to predict the distribution of fishing grounds.Practical significance: the results obtained will be used for further studies of the population dynamics of saury in the North Pacific Ocean.