West Kamchatka Research Articles

Characteristic of marine Oligocene diatom flora from the Cenozoic key section of West Kamchatka

The results on study of fossil diatom flora from marine Cenozoic key section of West Kamchatka at the Kvachina Bay are given. Based on distinctions in taxonomic composition and stratigraphic occurrence of biochronologically important taxa in the section, diatom assemblages of different age dated from the early Oligocene to earliest Miocene are identified. In their entirety and paleontological characteristics studied Oligocene assemblages are the most representative among all assemblages of this age known from Kamchatka region.

Practice of assessing the resources of fish in Peter the Great Bay by data of Danish seine catches

Marine biological resources are usually assessed by trawl surveys; methods of these surveys are well-developed. However, number of fish populations is too high to be completely assessed by scientific surveys, so the data of commercial fishery have to be used, too. Danish seine is preferable method of the Russian commercial fishery in the Japan Sea and some other areas of the Russian EEZ. Principal possibility of fish stocks accounting with Danish seine is tested earlier by specialists of Kamchatka Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography for the West Kamchatka where the parallel surveys by trawl and Danish seine were compared that showed similar results. Continuing these experiments, the data of Danish seine catches in Peter the Great Bay are compared with the data of trawl catches in the same area. In spite of differences in construction of the Danish seine and trawl, the fish resources assessments by these gears are similar in this area, too. Some differences are associated with the three times thicker layer caught by the Danish seine. Because of this reason, yellowfin sole Limanda aspera prevailed in the catches of Danish seine but other Pleuronectidae plaices were more numerous in the trawl catches, obviously because of their aggregation closer to the bottom.

ON BIOLOGY OF SOCKEYE SALMON ONCORHYNCHGUS NERKA FROM THE ZHUPANOVA RIVER (EAST KAMCHATKA)

Runs and escapements of sockeye salmon to the Zhupanova River have increased since 1985 with the run of 10.63 . 103 ind. instead of 1.45 . 103 ind. in 1960–1984, on average. The increasing was reasoned by change of the pink salmon odd year-classes domination in West Kamchatka to domination of even year-classes after the extremely high escapement in 1983. In 2005–2006, the sockeye salmon stock in the Zhupanova River became even more higher that continues till nowadays (runs of 68.20 . 103 ind. in 2005–2017, on average). This growth corresponds with general increasing of the pacific salmons abundance in the Russian Far East as the result of favorable environmental and feeding conditions in the North Pacific. General biological indices (age, body length and weight, maturity, fecundity) of mature sockeye salmon originated from the Zhupanova River are presented on the data of commercial catches in the sea in 1999–2017. The sockeye salmon population from this river has 11 age groups. The age group 1.3 is the most abundant and associated with the age groups 1.2 and 1.4. Majority of sockeye in the catches from the Zhupanova has the age 1.3 (on average 66.2 % in 1999–2017). Besides, returns of underyearlings with age 0.2, 0.3, and 0.4, and the fish with age 2.2, 2.3, 2.4, 3.2, and 3.3 are detected. The body length and weight are similar for all age groups of sockeye salmon: for males/females the mean length is 57.56/57.70 cm, mean weight is 2.69/2.62 kg. The mean males:females ratio is 44.7 : 55.3. The mean absolute fecundity is 4121 eggs. In opposite of sockeye salmon in some rivers of East Kamchatka, the population of the Zhupanova has no negative year-to-year trend of the body length or weight.

Klimaticheskaya izmenchivost i produktivnost tikhookeanskikh lososej Dalnego Vostoka Rossii

An assessment of the effects of climate changes on Pacific salmon productivity in Russian Far East was made based on longterm data (1971-2015), including commercial fishery statistics and monitoring rows on 17 indices of teleconnection patterns. The assessment was made for three mass species - pink, chum and sockeye salmon. The values were obtained for three basin groups of stocks: PBS - the Pacific-Bering Sea group (East Kamchatka and Chukotka; SOS - the Southern Okhotsk Sea group (Sakhalin, Kuriles, the Amur River basin, Primorye); NOS - the Northern Okhotsk Sea group (West Kamchatka, continental coast of the Sea of Okhotsk). 6 Бугаев, Тепнин, Радченко The assessment of the interrelation and the selection of the indices of teleconnection patterns were carried using correlation and the principal component analysis. The results obtained allowed to figure out 10 indexes with the maximal time series (45 years), including ALPI, PNA, WP, PDO, NP, AO, N.HEMI+dSST, Ap, Sun Spot, LOD. Method of moving average was used in the calculations for making the rows of the average annual climate indexes. Averaging for particular species was carried out depending on duration of feeding at sea. In this connection the values of the moving average took into account the ranges of the variable values of indices from the year of juvenile migration to seawater and leaving the coast for the ocean waters (the age n.0) to the year of mass maturation (in the age 0.1 for pink salmon (averaging for two years - the ages 0.0 and 0.1), in the age n.3 for chum and sockeye salmon (averaging for 4 years - the ages n.0, n.1, n.2 and n.3)). In this way, the values obtained could demonstrate the effects of the climate factors on the Pacific salmon catches (production) taking into account the effects on salmon environment for the entire period at sea. Step-by-step multivariate regression analysiswas provided based on the indexes-indicators figured out and made figuring out the climate factors, which are the most affecting salmon prodiction in the basin groups of stocks of Pacific salmon in Russian Far East. All results obtained demonstrated authentic interrelations (p < 0.05-0.001) where the coefficients of the multiple regression from moderate (R = 0.36-0.74) to strong (R = 0.75-0.93). The highest level of the correlation “Pacific salmon production - the indices of teleconnection patterns” was revealed for chum and sockeye salmon, the species with a long period of feeding at sea. The indexes for pink slmon were visibly lower in the PBS and NOS groups. For the SOS group the coefficient of the multiple correlation was high. The results of the analysis made it possible to figure out the major active climate components as the N.HEMI+dSST (the index of the global temperature anomaly in the Earth Northern hemosphere), the PDO (the Pacific Decade Oscillation), the Ap (the index of the geomagnetic activities). The analysis of the zonal effects of the water temperature anomalies (aOST) in the areas of fall and winter feeding of Pacific salmon in the 1-st year of ocean life in the seas of Far East and Subarctic zone of Pacific Ocean has it indicated, that for the Okhotsk Sea groups (SOS and NOS) the maximal correlation the “aOST- catches” was in the fall in the central and southern Okhotsk Sea and also in the Pacific Ocean waters adjacent Kuriles: r = 0.4-0.7. The maximal correlations for the PBS group was in the west part of the Bering Sea: r = 0.3-0.5. The effects of the temperature factors on salmon productivity were visibly lower during winter feeding.

Morphophysiological patterns of life history strategy adoption in Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma in Kamchatka

Growth, age composition, gonad maturity and patterns of life history strategy adoption in the population of Dolly Varden from the Kol River (West Kamchatka) are studied. Major factors controlling differentiation of juveniles and trajectories of ontogenetic developments, growth rate and gametogenesis in generations in particular years. The differentiation in a generation into anadromous and resident groupings is completed mainly at the age of 4 years. The process of formation of resident and migratory life history strategy in Dolly Varden is epigenetic. Bifurcation in the life of one specimen is observed once in life, and that in a generation is observed four times: at the first, the second, the third, or the fourth year. The life cycle of females from the Kol River is invariant until they reach the age of 1 year, and that in males is during the 4 years of the freshwater phase. In Kamchatka, all spawners, including precocious males, may reproduce several times during life.

Nekotorye dannye o linejnom i vesovom roste mojvy Mallotus villosus catervarius na pervom godu zhizni u beregov Zapadnoj Kamchatki

Nekotorye dannye o linejnom i vesovom roste mojvy Mallotus villosus catervarius na pervom godu zhizni u beregov Zapadnoj Kamchatki

Fecundity of the Far-Eastern flatfishes Pleuronectiformes. 1. General characterization of fecundity of Pleuronectiformes in the northern part of the Pacific Ocean

Cited and archive data on fecundity of 31 flatfish species are generalized for the North Pacific. General characterization of the fecundity is presented and correlation between absolute individual fecundity of the females and their body length or age is analyzed and formalized in equation form. Spatial variability of fecundity is described for different species: pacific halibut and starry flounder have the highest absolute fecundity in the eastern Bering Sea and Okhotsk Sea, greenland halibut, yellowfin sole, alaska plaice, sakhalin flounder, longhead dab, and flathead sole - in the Okhotsk Sea, northern rock sole - in the waters at East and West Kamchatka. kamchatka flounder - in the Bering Sea, arrowtooth flounder - in the Pacific waters at North America. So, the Okhotsk Sea is the area where the absolute fecundity of majority wide-spread flatfish species can reach the maximal level. However, the maximal fecundity of longsnouted flounder is higher in the Japan Sea than in the Okhotsk Sea.

Vodnye biologicheskie resursy severo-zapadnoj chasti Okhotskogo morya

Data on the major aquatic biological resources used by Far East fisheries within the North Okhotomorsk and West Kamchatka commercial subzones adjacent Magadan Region are presented. Stock abundance condition of the resources, their structural role for the fishery and the catches for the last five years are demonstrated. It is concluded that condition of the major commercial fish and shellfish species is satisfactory for a large scale fishery to operate on the shelf and local fisheries in the coastal zone of the Sea of Okhotsk.

Opredelenie fakticheskogo vylova kamchatskogo kraba Paralithodes camtschaticus u Zapadnoj Kamchatki v svete novogo podkhoda k otsenke sostoyaniya ego zapasa i obosnovaniya ODU

Opredelenie fakticheskogo vylova kamchatskogo kraba Paralithodes camtschaticus u Zapadnoj Kamchatki v svete novogo podkhoda k otsenke sostoyaniya ego zapasa i obosnovaniya ODU

Division of the Cenozoic reference section of the Kvachina Bay, West Kamchatka, and problems of its correlation

A reference section of the Paleogene and Neogene located in the Kvachina Bay, West Kamchatka, is characterized in detail with description of ancient sequences and their lithological and paleontological features. Debatable problems of division and correlation of the section are reported. Its importance for deciphering of the geological events of the region is examined, as well as for the development of the stratigraphic scheme of the Cenozoic of West Kamchatka.

Razmernaya struktura severnoj krevetki Pandalus eous Makarov, 1935, obitayushchej v vostochnoj chasti Okhotskogo morya u Zapadnoj Kamchatki

Razmernaya struktura severnoj krevetki Pandalus eous Makarov, 1935, obitayushchej v vostochnoj chasti Okhotskogo morya u Zapadnoj Kamchatki

Provenance analysis for Middle Eocene sediments in the West Kamchatka sedimentary basin (Tigil area)

The paper presents the results of reconstruction of Middle Eocene provenances for the West Kamchatka sedimentary basin (WKSB) corresponding to the Tigil area. It has been established that the early (Eocene) evolution stage of WKSB was marked by the deposition of terrigenous sediments in intermontane depressions followed by the accumulation of shallow-marine sediments after transgression. In terms of the composition, sandstones of the Middle Eocene Snatol Formation correspond to graywackes. With respect to the geochemistry of sandstones, their provenances were confined to an active continental margin and island arc. The mineral composition of the heavy fraction suggests an alternating dominance of felsic and mafic rocks in the provenances. Dating of the clastic zircon from sandstones of the Snatol Formation by the LA-ICP-MS method revealed a wide variation range of their age. The most significant peak is close to the age of calc-alkaline magmatism in the Okhotsk–Chukotka volcanic belt. This fact provides insight into the Eocene paleogeography: the major rock provenances were located in the Okhotsk–Chukotka volcanic belt and the eastern Achaivayam–Valagin island arc. Local sources of clastic material were represented by the Utkholok and Kinkil volcanic belts.

SOSTOYANIE KLETOK YAICHNIKOV MOLODI TIKHOOKEANSKIKH LOSOSEJ V KAMCHATSKOM ZALIVE (TIKHIJ OKEAN) LETOM 2010 I 2013 GG

The data to figure out specifics of gonad structure of juvenile Pacific salmon sampled in summer in the Pacific Ocean waters off Kamchatka were obtained first time based on histological analysis. Differences in the ovary development rate were demonstrated for the young fish with different strategies during their early period of feeding at sea. Copmarative analysis was made for the development rate of ovaries in juvenile fish from Kamchatsky Gulf (East Kamchatka) and in the costal waters of the Okhotsk Sea (West Kamchatka) in July-August in 2010 and 2013.

Ladislavella tumrokensis: The first molecular evidence of a Nearctic clade of lymnaeid snails inhabiting Eurasia

In this study, we provide the first molecular evidence for a possible connection between freshwater mollusc faunas across the Bering Strait via the Beringian Land Bridge using data inferred from gastropods of the family Lymnaeidae. The gastropods collected from geothermal springs in the Tumrok Mountains, West Kamchatka, Russia, share the nuclear internal transcribed spacer 2 (ITS2) and the cytochrome oxidase subunit I gene (COI) haplotypes, thus being as sister to those recorded for lymnaeid snails in the Stagnicola elodes group from Canada and the USA. Two lymnaeid species, Lymnaea (Orientogalba) tumrokensis Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1985 and Lymnaea (Polyrhytis) kurenkovi Kruglov and Starobogatov, 1989, were described from the Tumrok geothermal locality, but actually they are morphological variations of a single taxon of subspecies rank re-classified here as Ladislavella catascopium tumrokensis. This subspecies is the first discovered representative in the genus, which formed a dwarf race in a geothermal habitat. Our findings highlight the possible exchange between freshwater faunas in Beringia during the Pleistocene and an important role of geothermal ecosystems as possible cryptic refugia for freshwater hydrobionts.

Bioeconomic assessment of commercial bioresources in the Okhotsk Sea

Total commercially important stock of all bioresources in the Okhotsk Sea is estimated as 9.034 · 10 6 t (fish - 8294 · 10 3 t, invertebrates - 605 · 10 3 t, macrophytes 99 · 10 3 t, mammals 36 · 10 3 t) that costs 799 billion rub. (23.5 billion USD), including 574 billion rub. (16.2 billion USD) in the North Okhotsk subzone, 100 billion rub. (2.7 billion USD) in the West Kamchatka subzone, 77 billion rub. (1.9 billion USD) in the East Sakhalin subzone, and 48 billion rub. (2.7 billion USD) in the Kamchatka-Kuril subzone. Mean specific value of the bioresources cost for the Okhotsk Sea is 569.6 thousand rub./km 2 (16,800 USD/km 2 ), this value is calculated by subzones, as well. The natural and economic assessments of the Okhotsk Sea bioresources could be used as data input for modeling of the fishery economics.

On one model approach to stock assessment for red king crab &lt;i&gt;Paralithodes camtschaticus&lt;/i&gt; on the shelf of West Kamchatka

A possible model approach to stock assessment of marine commercial invertebrates is discussed based on modeling of year-to-year dynamics for three functional groups (recruits, prerecruits, and commercial males). The model parameters are determined by joint solution of the tasks of optimal filtration and identification. As an example, this approach is used for assessment of the stock of king crab on the shelf of West Kamchatka. For this case, the data on actual catch are used obtained from reports of customs in Japan, Korea, USA, and China about the volume of crab products imported from Russia. The modeling confirms the conclusion from direct observations about rapid growth of the red king crab stock at West Kamchatka in recent years. Following to these results, the value of total allowable catch (TAC) can be substantially increased for this species. The officially recommended TAC of red king crab at West Kamchatka for 2016 is below of the 95 % confidence interval of the really possible catch. This value does not account the species stock recovery and hamper rational utilization of the valued natural resource.

Survival of Kamchatka pink salmon as result of combined influence of density regulation and environmental factors

Dynamics of stock abundance and survival is similar for the pink salmon populations from East Kamchatka and West Kamchatka, obviously because of the same large-scale environmental factors influence, as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) and the Western Pacific pattern (WP) that correlate significantly with the pink salmon populations indices for various stages of the life cycle. The survival measured as the recruits number per parental stock (R/S) has a non-linear dependence on this environmental indices described by parabolic equations. These dependencies are used in reproductive models, which simulate observed fluctuations of R/S with high accuracy. Note that these environmental factors influence on the pink salmon survival is opposite for its odd and even generations. For example, high PDO value in November is unfavorable for survival of the pink salmons in East Kamchatka in the first year of their life (incubation) but favorable for survival of the same population in the second year (marine feeding) - that’s why strong and weak year-classes of pink salmon are alternated. Both PDO and WP indices have quasi-biennial periodicity that is a bit longer than the 2-year alternation of the pink salmon generations, hence favorable environments change their correspondence with odd or even generations from time to time, on average in approximately every 8 years. Similar regularities are supposed for other salmon species, as West Kamchatka coho salmon.

Fecundity of northern shrimp &lt;i&gt;Pandalus borealis &lt;/i&gt;dwelling at the west coast of Kamchatka

Fecundity of northern shrimp Pandalus borealis is investigated for the first time on the data collected from the depth 200-400 m near the coast of West Kamchatka in 2013-2014. The absolute and relative individual fecundity are determined, their relationship with size and age of the shrimp is analyzed. The individual fertility of females changes in limits of 1395-4648 eggs, with average number in the laying 2799 ± 190 eggs. The maximum fecundity is noted for females at the age of 7+. Losses of eggs for the northern shrimp at the west coast of Kamchatka don’t exceed 12 %.

Ecotoxicological assay of seawater quality on the western Kamchatka shelf

Ecotoxicological assay of seawater quality along the shelf of West Kamchatka, including the areas of oil and gas deposits, was conducted in the summer of 2014. Temperature and salinity conditions were usual for summer season, as well as the field of density currents. For introduction of modern and representative bioassay methods in practice of environmental monitoring in the regions of oil and gas production and transportation, embryogenesis of sand dollar Scaphechinus mirabilis was used for biotesting. The stations with high number of the embryos and larvae abnormalities had mosaic distribution - this effect may be connected with shipping of fishing and merchant vessels.

Seasonal dynamics of gonads maturity and indices of body condition for walleye pollock &lt;i&gt;Theragra chalcogramma&lt;/i&gt; in the northern part of the Okhotsk Sea

Seasonal dynamics of gonad maturity and body condition indices (liver weight, hepato-somatic index, weight-size ratio) is analyzed for walleye pollock in the northern Okhotsk Sea. Its spawning season is rather long both for the whole population and any spawning ground, e.g. at West Kamchatka the fish with melting gonads is observed from December to September and probably later, but the mass spawning continues about one month - in March-April, on average. After the spawning, a new annual biological cycle begins from the period of gonad recuperation (stages of gonad maturity VI and VI-II) that continues 2-3 months followed by the period of gonad maturation from the stage III to the next spawning. The portion of the pollock females and males with the stage III is the highest in August-September, and with the stage IV - in March, before the mass spawning. In the northern Okhotsk Sea, the dynamics of maturing is similar, with the lag of 2-3 weeks. However, the gonad maturing depends on thermal conditions: they develop faster in «warm» years than in «cold» ones. Besides, big fish begin to spawn earlier than small ones spawning in the first time. Males usually stay on the spawning grounds longer than females. Body condition of walleye pollock is influenced by the process of gonad maturation. Energy potential of its individuals forms until August-September, and begins to decrease when gonads transform from the stage III to the stage IV. Later the indices of body condition continue to decrease till spawning in March-April, and melting individuals and postspawners have the lowest values. After the spawning, the indices begin to grow again because of active feeding.