Stock and biological structure of rainbow smelt Osmerus mordax dentex in the water bodies of Kamchatka are considered. In total, 14,156 individuals are analyzed in 2005-2013; age is determined for 11,954 of them. The stock is assessed by bottom trawl and Danish seine surveys in the shelf zone of Kamchatka (13 surveys in 2005-2013). State of the stock is evaluated as good, in general, but some unbalance between its northern and southern parts is noted in recent years: the former one grows and its state is very good recently but the latter one has a tendency to decrease though its state is still satisfactory. Dynamics of the major biological parameters of smelt, as sex ratio, body size and weight, and age structure, indicate also some features of its southern sub-stock degradation, as size and weight decreasing and lowering the age in catches. In particular, these changes are clear in the Petropavlovsk-Commander fishery district, where they are presumably caused by large-scale unregulated sport and amateur fisheries with the summary annual landing about 1-2 thousand tons of rainbow smelt that is comparable with its commercial withdrawal. These activities affect mostly on immature fish that destruct the whole stock of rainbow smelt.

Commercial stocks of two yellowfin sole populations on the western and eastern shelves of Sakhalin Island are assessed by VPA method using the data on their size-age structure and fishery statistics for 1950-2013. Results of the assessment are compared with the data of bottom trawl surveys conducted in 2000-2013. The yellowfin sole at Sakhalin Island had two periods of high abundance: in the 1950-1960s and in the 1985-1995, but its stocks decreased in the 1970-1980 and after the middle 1990s. This dynamics is similar to the dynamics of other large populations of yellowfin sole in the North Pacific - in the southeastern and western Bering Sea and on the shelf of West Kamchatka. All these changes are caused by natural reasons; fishery has secondary importance and affects on the populations in times of low stock only.

The Bering Sea, ​​Okhotsk Sea, Japan/East Sea and adjacent waters of the Pacific Ocean (mainly within EEZ of Russia) are compared by abundance of pelagic and benthic macrofauna, its species richness, evenness, diversity, and mean weight of animals using the data of long-term large-scale pelagic and bottom trawl surveys conducted by Pacific Fish. Res. Center (TINRO) in 1977-2010.

Data on sex ratio and size-age composition of yellowfin sole Limanda aspera Pallas [1814] in the eastern Okhotsk Sea are generalized. The sex structure is significantly different for mature and immature parts of this stock. Natural losses of both males and females depend on their year-class strength: the stronger the generation, the higher mortality. Besides, their maturing depends on the year-class strength, too: both males and females of high-abundant generations mature later, and rate of their gonads maturation decreases for elder age groups. Favorable environmental conditions supposedly promote growth of spawning stock with increasing of the females portion. So, for weak or mediate year-classes the leading increase of females provides an abundant recruitment at the beginning, but further the growing misbalance of sex ratio can effect on the reproduction negatively. However, dynamics of progeny correlates stronger with spawning stock than with sex ratio.

The latest data on abundance and distribution of northern fur seal ( Callorhinus ursinus ), Steller sea lion ( Eumetopias jubatus ), and spotted seal ( Phoca largha ) at Tyuleny Island (Okhotsk Sea) are presented. The total counted number of fur seals was 115 thousand in June-July of 2013, including 5.0 thousand of bulls, 30.3 thousand of females, and 34.7 thousand of pups (31.5 thousand alive and 3.2 thousand dead). Decreasing of the females and pups number is observed during the last 4 years - they became lesser in 18.0 % or 4.5 % per year. The counted number of Steller sea lions was 1879 adults (including 119 bulls, and 1390 females, 68.5 % of them gave birth) and 890 pups. The reproductive group of Steller sea lion increases its abundance on the island due to numerous immigrants. Abundance of spotted seal was very various seasonally and even daily, its highest counted number was 162 individuals.

Evolution of local ecosystem in Tolmachevskoye reservoir and changes in its artificial population of kokanee salmon are traced on the data of authors’ observations in 2009-2013 and previous archival and cited data. Decreasing of inorganic phosphorous, nitrogen, and bioavailable iron is detected in the water against a background of water warming. As the result, phytoplankton production and abundance decrease, its species composition becomes simpler, chlorophyll а concentration becomes lower. Zooplankton abundance is stable (1-2 g/m³), as before the reservoir appearance, but species structure of plankton crustaceans is changed, and the copepods Cyclops scutifer , small cladocerans Holopedium gibberum, Bosmina longirostris , and Daphnia ( Daphnia ) cristata group prevail recently. The salmon food spectrum is wide and includes a lot of unedible fractions as wood chips and plant detritus; coefficient of consumption is high - these factors indicate a deficiency of forage resources for fish. The fish condition indicates a chronic malnutrition. The state of female gonads is satisfactory, without any visible pathology, as in 2003-2007, but the oocytes resorption goes concurrently with maturation of gonads that is a sign of hard competition for the food within the kokanee population. The current stable state of the population differs from preceded stages of its development by lower stock add smaller size of fish, the age of spawning is now 4-7 years. Among other freshwater fish, the kokanee salmon is distinguished by high content of ω-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. Artificial populations in Kamchatka could be considered as a resource for both amateur or sport fishing and commercial aquaculture.

Stock of Saccharina japonica in the Aniva Bay (Okhotsk Sea coast of Sakhalin Island) was surveyed by divers in 2010 and assessed with the squares method. The total stock decreased slightly as compared with the previous year (from 47,800 to 43,560 t) but the commercial stock became higher (42,410 t in 2010 against 40,900 t in 2009). The area of traditional harvesting (7.52 km²) was > 80 % covered by the two-years-old algae with total biomass 35,120 t, their highest density (8.9 ind./m², 4.7 kg/m²) was observed in the internal part of the bay. However, the algae in this area had the minimal size parameters (length, thickness, weight), whereas the largest thalli with length 309.7 cm, width 24.2 cm, thickness in the middle strip 3.1 mm, and weight 978.6 g were registered in the external part of the bay. Besides, the algae of the internal part accumulated in their tissues more metals and toxic elements, as calcium, copper, potassium, iron, manganese, zinc, arsenic, lead, and cadmium. The arsenic content in the samples from the internal part varied in the range 0.94-26.60 mg/kg, the highest value was in 5.3 times higher than the maximum permissible level, following to Sanitary Rules and Norms 3.2.1078-01. The content of lead and cadmium did not exceed the established norms, even in the top of the Bay.

Stocks of large-hand and narrow-hand males of snow crab opilio are assessed separately for the first time on the data collected in the Primorye subarea southward from Cape Zolotoy (47°20’ N) in 2010-2013. Results of the separate assessment change fundamentally the conception of this exploited population recruitment. There is proposed to calculate the recruitment of its commercial stock from the number of narrow-hand males with commercial size instead of former method based on the number of pre-recruits size groups, that means that the large-hand males only are considered as commercial ones but the large-size narrow-hand males are their reserve. Dynamics of the size composition is analyzed and several options for calculation of the commercial stock recruitment after the final moult are proposed.

Results of plankton and oceanographic surveys conducted by Pacific Fish. Res. Center (TINRO) in the southern Chukchi Sea in August-September of 2003, 2007, 2008, and 2010 are presented. Plankton samples were collected by Juday BSD net (mesh size 0.168 mm) from the layer 0-200 m or 0-bottom on the shelf with towing velocity 0.7-1.0 m/s. The samples are processed according to standard techniques accepted in TINRO (Volkov, 1996). The net phytoplankton biomass varied in the range 80-1683 mg/m³, with mean value 728.0 mg/m³ (the surveys were conducted mostly in the period of phytoplankton bloom, with exclusion the year 2008 when its biomass was insignificant). It was usually heightened in two areas: in the southeastern Chukchi Sea influenced by water advection from the Bering Sea and in the waters of the Siberian Coastal Current entered to the western Chukchi Sea. The zooplankton biomass had a tendency to increase year by year because of increasing of all species groups abundance, in particular Chaetognatha. Species structure of zooplankton was rather stable, with permanent 3-4 dominant species with summary portion > 50 % of total biomass, though some year-to-year changes of their percentage were observed. These changes, as well as spatial differences of the species structure, are linked with water exchange and depend on water transport through the Bering Strait and the western boundary of the Chukchi Sea and distribution of the entered waters, which improve productivity of the southern Chukchi Sea and enrich its fauna.

Dynamics of the sea ice cover in Peter the Great Bay is considered, for the first time for its whole area, on the base of satellite images received in 2004-2011 from the spectroradiometers MODIS mounted on the satellites Terra and Aqua. High spatial resolution maps of the ice drift are constructed for various wind conditions. Mean values of the drift velocity and wind coefficient are calculated for four parts of the Bay. In usual conditions of winter monsoon, the ice in the central part of Peter the Great Bay drifts southward with the velocity 0.5-0.6 m/s with deviation from the wind direction about 40° to the right; the ice at the western coast drifts along the island chain with the velocity 0.1-0.4 m/s under wind of any direction in the quadrant from northwest to northeast.

Concentration of major ions and trace metals dissolved and suspended in water and trace metals in plankton of freshwater (Vaskovskoye, Golubichnoye, Yaponskoye) and brackish (Dukhovskoye, Krugloye, Mramornoye, Blagodati) lakes of eastern Sikhote-Alin is determined in July 2011-2012. The Lakes Golubichnoye and Blagodati are included in the Sikhote-Alin State Natural Biosphere Reserve. Anions are detected by the liquid chromatography (Shimadzu LC-10AVP), cations and metals are analyzed by the atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS Shimadzu 6800), and carbon concentration is measured by the method of thermocatalytic oxidation with infrared registration (TOC-VCPN, Shimadzu). The freshwater lakes of eastern Sikhote-Alin are distinguished by heightened concentrations of chlorides, sulfates, and sodium as compared with lakes of East-European Plain, mainly because of aerial transfer of ions from the sea. The ions concentration in brackish lakes is determined by direct penetration of seawater. Difference of the heavy metals concentration between freshwater and brackish lakes is negligible, except the manganese with higher concentration in the freshwater lakes. Lakes with wetlands in their drainage area have high concentrations of dissolved organic carbon, iron and manganese, which are depended on water regime. Concentrations of trace metals in the lakes water are low because of its pluvial origin (rainwater transforms slightly in the process of filtration through effusive rocks), with exception of Lake Vaskovskoe located in the area of mining and processing the polymetallic and borosilicate ores, close to the lead smeltery in Rudnaya Pristan stopped in 2009: the lead concentration in the water of this lake is heightened, both in dissolved and suspended forms, though does not exceed the maximal permissible concentration for drinking water. Accumulation of metals by plankton is determined mainly by biological need of the plankton in these elements and practically doesn’t depend on their concentration in water.

Adaptive capacity of benthic microalga Attheya ussurensis (Bacillariophyta) from Peter the Great Bay, Japan Sea to the medium contamination with a salt of hexavalent chromium is tested in laboratory culture. In unpolluted culture, growth of the alga could be described by S-shaped curve, the lag-phase was short or absent, the exponential stage with square or near-square cells was characterized by high growth rate, mean size of cells was 16.0 x 15.5 mm at the exponential stage and 17.2 x 15.7 mm at the stationary stage, the chloroplasts were olive-green colored, had wide blades, and diverged radially from a cell center. After 10-days exposing to potassium dichromate in concentration 0.01 mg/L, the number of cells did not change but size and morphology of cells changed on the 7^th day; the higher concentrations as 0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 mg/L caused the decreasing of cells number to 81, 48, 33 % of control number, respectively, and size and morphology of the cells changed on the 4^th day for 0.1 mg/L and on the 2^nd day for 1.0 and 2.0 mg/L. After further exposing under the same concentrations, only 27 % of cells survived under 0.01 mg/L, 10 % under 0.10 mg/L, and all cells were eliminated under higher pollution, cell division was inhibited in all cases, and the following morphological changes occurred: cell walls curved, cell horns shortened, chloroplasts deformed, cytoplasm consolidated, retraction was detected for 90 % of the cells. After the algae transfer from the medium polluted by potassium dichromate in concentration 0.01 and 0.10 mg/L to a clean medium, they only partially restored their number - to 42 % of control number for those exposed under the concentration 0.01 mg/L. The experiment shows that the benthic algae A. ussurensis is highly sensitive to the medium contamination because of breaking of the cells division process and morphological changes which cannot be restored even after cessation of the toxic impact.

Benthic foraminifers at methane seepages, independently of their taxa and microhabitat preferences, have lower value of d¹³С than those found in other sites, that’s why these species potentially could be used as bioindicators of methane emission. Species composition and distribution of Foraminifera is analyzed on the samples collected in the cruise of RV Academic M.A. Lavrentyev on 18 stations located on the eastern slope of Sakhalin Island within the depth range 600-1500 m in June 2010. Concentrations of methane in the bottom water and sediments of the surveyed area were high and sometimes exceeded the maximal permissible level in 100 times and more; methane contaminated the whole water column (600 m) and lowered abundance of zooplankton. Both benthic (75 species) and planktonic foraminifers (6 taxa) are investigated. The benthic foraminifers avoided the methane ejections but preferred to settle in places of its diffusive infiltration where their abundance was high, presumably because of blooming of chemoautotrophic bacteria in bottom sediments saturated by methan. The genera Nonionellina, Valvulineria, Uvigerina and the species Reophax dentaliniformis were the most adapted for the polluted environment. Stable isotopes O¹⁶/O¹⁸ and C¹²/C¹³ are measured in carbonate shells of Uvigerina parvocostata, Valvulineria sadonica, Nonionellina labradorica . Intraspecific changes of d¹⁸О were insignificant, it varied in the ranges 3.43-3.60, 2.81-3.04, and 3.28-3.37 ‰, respectively. Variability of d¹³C was higher - 0.9-2.0 ‰ for U. parvocostata and N. labradorica and its value dropped to -1.54 ‰ for the specimens of V. sadonica in the sites of methane seepage. Thus, V. sadonica is the best species-indicator of methane emission.

Pathological changes of the caspian seal fetus caused by negative processes in the mother’s organism under influence of disease and harmful environments are investigated. For that, parenchymal organs of the fetus are examined by histological methods. Active replacement of the fetus’ tissues by conjunctive tissue is detected in all organs, the most profound abnormalities are registered in the kidney and liver

Feeding of sand dollars Echinarachnius parma and Scaphechinus mirabilis (Clypeasteroida) in the Troitsa Bay, Japan Sea is investigated. Both species dwell on coarse bottom sand with the percentage of fine fraction (< 0.2 mm) no more than 3 %. Diatoms are the most important component of the sand dollars feeding, they are represented by 50 species in the ground but only 27 species in the faeces, with predominance of the cells with chloroplasts in the faeces, that indicates a selectivity of the sand dollars feeding. High similarity (0.97) of algal flora in the faeces of S. mirabilis and E. parma shows their common feeding habits. Crystals of zircon and ilmenite with specific gravity 4.7 g/cm³ are accumulated in the diverticulum of S. mirabilis though they are very rare in sandy grounds.

Ecological state in the most polluted areas of Peter the Great Bay is described by some chemical parameters (salinity, dissolved oxygen content, phosphorus and nitrogen concentration), pollution (concentration of anionic surfactants, phenols, total petroleum hydrocarbons, and indices of organic pollution as COD (KMnO₄) and BOD₅), and results of bioassay. The chemical parameters were measured by standard methods. The parameters of pollution were generalized with the integral Water Pollution Index (WPI - exceeding of the pollution over the permissible level), separately for the southwestern Peter the Great Bay, Amur Bay, and Nakhodka Bay: all these water bodies were qualified as moderately polluted or polluted ones. Embryo-larval bioassay with sand dollar S. mirabilis was applied and showed abnormalities in early development of the species under exposure in the water from all tested sites. Negative correlation between the number of normally developing embryos and larvae and WPI was revealed. The highest pollution is determined in the Nakhodka Bay.

Changes of temperature and humidity regime in Kamchatka are estimated on the seasonally and annually averaged data of long-term (1951-2009) monitoring on air temperature and precipitation at 10 meteorological stations (2-months natural synoptic seasons are used for averaging, as pre-winter, early winter, late winter, spring, summer, and autumn). Epochs with extremely dry and humid seasons are detected for certain climatic sub-regions of Kamchatka taking into account both temperature and precipitation anomalies (Pedya index - S). Besides, long-term changes of the sea surface temperature in the coastal areas of the Okhotsk and Bering Seas are determined that reflect thermal interaction between the atmosphere and ocean. The warming trend is revealed for the whole investigated region that is the most expressed in the pre-winter and late winter seasons and the less pronounced in the south and north of the Peninsula (slight cooling is observed in its northern and northeastern areas in early winter). The sea surface has a tendency to warm, too, but slower than the air; the greatest warming trend is observed in the coastal Okhotsk Sea in spring and autumn and in the coastal Bering Sea in autumn. Annual precipitation has opposite changes in different parts of the Peninsula: its volume tends to decrease in the north and the south, on the western and northeastern coasts, and in the Kamchatka River valley but tends to increase in the central mountainous area and on the eastern coast.

Data on productivity of pot fishery on humpback shrimp at the coast of Primorye are presented, actual in conditions of its trawl fishery ban in the northwestern Japan Sea. Biological parameters of the shrimp in the fishing season are considered, and dynamics of the catches is analyzed for one of the major fishing grounds. Species composition and abundance of by-catch in the shrimp pots are discussed. Dependence of the shrimp catch on options of the bite preparation is determined.

The problems of protein deficiency, utilization of fish processing wastes, and lack of healthy snacks at Russian market are decided simultaneously by developing the technology for dried snacks made from backbones of atlantic salmon ( Salmo salar ), after filleting the fish, and tubers of jerusalem artichoke ( Helianthus tuberosus ) growing in Kaliningrad region. The method of orthogonal central composite design is used to determine optimal parameters of the technological process, as the portion of artichoke and the time of drying. Organoleptic score of the finished product is used as the optimization parameter. Mathematical model of the technological process is developed that allows to determine optimal parameters of the texturized semiproduct drying. Quality of the finished product is assessed and its biological value is evaluated with calculation of some macronutrients amount by the computational method. The content of potassium is 940 mg/kg, magnesium - 154 mg/kg, calcium - 285 mg/kg, phosphorus - 200 mg/kg. Comparing these values with the recommended daily intake of the nutrients, the snack can be classified as a functional food. Recommendations for the snack use are presented. The standard «Functional snacks Fish BioStripes» is proposed.

Amino acid composition and antioxidant activity are investigated for dried liver of chum salmon Oncorhynchus keta , for water-soluble preparation from the dried liver, and for 1-10 kDa fraction of the water-soluble preparation. The water-soluble preparation contains more than 60 % peptides of molecular weight 1-10 kDa, about 18 % peptides of > 10 kDa, and about 20 % low molecular peptides of molecular weight < 1 kDa. The content of combined amino acids is the highest in the water-soluble preparation (672.5 mg/g), it is lower in its 1-10 kDa fraction (544.4 mg/g) and the lowest in the dried liver (333.3 mg/g). On the contrary, the content of free ninhydrin-positive compounds is the highest in the liver (91.64 mg/g) and the lowest in the water-soluble preparation (61.36 mg/g). Relative to the level of carnosine antioxidant activity, the antioxidant activity of the dried liver is higher in 5.2 times, the activity of the water-soluble preparation is higher in 4.2 times, and the activity of the 1-10 kDa fraction is higher in 6.3 times. Three isoforms of such biologically active peptide as hepcidin are found in the 1-10 kDa fraction, their molecular weights are 2841.54, 2913.54 and 3025.63 Da.

Japanese cone-shaped traps for crabs are calibrated with the data of trawl survey in the northwestern Tartar Strait. The 100 % effective catch area for each trap in the order does not exceed 665 m² for spiny crab, 1513 m² for king crab, 3811 m² for horsehair crab, and 4019 m² for tanner crab opilio. Unification of methods for the stock assessment by trap surveys is discussed.