Production of fish communities is evaluated for 15 types of estuaries in Primorye on the data collected in 80 surveys (860 seine stations) conducted in 2002-2015. The bulk of the production in all cases is formed by semi-anadromous species ( Liza haematocheilus , Tribolodon spp., Hypomesus nipponensis and others). In polyhaline estuaries ( EP ), a significant part of the production is formed by resident marine species (mainly by Eleginus gracilis , Liopsetta pinnifasciata , Pholis nebulosa ) and southern migrants ( Mugil cephalus , Konosirus punctatus , Hyporhamphus sajori , Strongylura anastomella ). In mesohaline ( EM ) and oligohaline ( EO ) estuaries, the portions of marine residents and southern migrants are minimal, but the portion of freshwater species ( Gobio macrocephalus , Carassius gibelio , Phoxinus spp., Rhodeus sericeus , Acanthorhodeus spp., etc.) is heightened. Seasonal dynamics of the production is distinguished by the maximum in July-September. Mean fish biomass in May-October (vegetation season) varies in the range 143-1463 mgС/m², mean annual production - from 174 to 4267 mgС/m², and mean P/B -ratio - from 0.2 to 3.2. Previously (in 2007) much higher annual production was registered in the Artemovka River estuary - 9356 mgС/m², but such high value was formed only once by juveniles of L. haematocheilus belonged to highly abundant year-class hatched in 2006. Both production and P/B are the lowest in the waterbodies with salinity close to the barrier values (5-8 ‰ for a - horohalinicum and 22-26 ‰ for b - horohalinicum) that is usual for the types EM and EP ; this lowering is caused by osmotic regulation for freshwater and marine fish, respectively, in particular their juveniles with low tolerance to salinity changes. That’s why EM estuaries have lower abundance of juveniles relative to adult fish and therefore the lower production. In general, patterns of fish production in the estuaries of Primorye are similar to production of well investigated estuaries in the moderate, subtropical and tropical zones. The values of fish production in the estuaries of Primorye are comparable with the production in mesotrophic and eutrophic lakes of north-western Russia; being significantly lower than the production in large floodplain rivers but higher than the production in small rivers. Fish production for seas, including Japan Sea (0.20 gС/m²) or its northwestern part - Peter the Great Bay (0.28 gС/m²), is significantly lower.

Dynamics of biological parameters for adults of chum, sockeye, pink, coho, and chinook salmons in the rivers of the Avachinsky Bay is analyzed. There is shown for three populations of sockeye salmon that general age of the returned adults correlates positively with duration of their fresh-water life but negatively with timing of their approach for spawning. Tendency to decreasing of weight is revealed for chinook females, but weight of their males is stable. Dynamics of weight and timing of spawning run is significantly different for pink and chum salmons of the rivers Avacha and Nalycheva. Weight of coho females has negative trend, in spite of stable fecundity and age of return.

Modern state of biological resources in Antarctic is considered using comprehensive systemic analysis of historical and present data of Russian and international fisheries researches, catch data, scientific observations made by Russia and other CCAMLR countries, and materials from CCAMLR database. Distribution and abundance of krill and toothfish is presented for the main fishing grounds in 2013-2014. Legal treatment is given for current and projected state of the bioresources accessible for Russian fishery. Scientific recommendations for rational exploitation of the resources by Russian fishing fleet are presented for the season of 2014/15 and further.

Results of the bottom trawl survey conducted over the shelf and continental slope in the Russian waters of the Japan Sea from Peter the Great Bay to the Soya Strait in the period from March 31 to July 8, 2015 are presented. Species composition, biomass and spatial and bathymetric distribution of benthic and demersal fish are determined. Bulk of the biomass (> 90 %) was formed by 4 families: gadids, flounders, sculpins, and herrings. The species structure varied considerably by areas: pollock and plain sculpin dominated in Peter the Great Bay, pollock and sealyeye plaice - at southern Primorye beyond the Bay, herring - at northern Primorye, and sealyeye plaice and longsnout flounder - at southwestern Sakhalin. The highest density of distribution was recorded in Peter the Great Bay at the depths 500-700 m - 26.8 t/km², with domination of pollock, the lowest density was at southern Primorye in the depth range of 700-800 m - 2.4 t/km² with domination of sealyeye plaice. Peter the Great Bay was surveyed in conditions of winter distribution of fish distinguished by their high concentrations at the continental slope; their shift towards lower depths was observed at Primorye coast, and almost summer type of bathymetric distribution with the high concentrations on the shelf was found at southwestern Sakhalin. The biomass of benthic and demersal fish has increased slightly in compare with the 1980-1990s.

For almost the century the landings of summer chum salmon in the Amur were approximately in 5 times lower that the landings of fall chum salmon, in spite on almost the same fishing efforts. However, its catches were very high in the 1990-2000s, even higher that for the fall chum salmon, that contradicts to conceptions on its lower absolute fecundity, smaller spawning grounds, and higher vulnerability of its reproduction on unfavorable external factors. Relationship of mature progeny abundance for summer chum salmon with number of their parents is analyzed. The data on the parents and progeny abundance were calculated from fishery statistics, including cited data, considering annual catch as 50 % of the stock. The highest recruitment of summer chum salmon is estimated as 19.08 · 10⁶ ind. that is comparable with the strength of the fall chum salmon year-classes. The spawning stock of 1.94 · 10⁶ ind. is enough to produce this progeny, but the population growth is much lower with the lower spawning stock, that is a real reason for slow recovery of the summer chum salmon stock, though potentially both races could be equally abundant. To maintain the stock of summer chum salmon at the highest level, an optimal number of parents should be passed to the spawning grounds, within rather narrow range, that is difficult to control in conditions of the big river.

Only one diagnostic sign is enough for differentiation of chub mackerel Scomber japonicus and blue mackerel S. australasicus working with mass material. It is a number of spines in dorsal fin: chub mackerel has 9-10 (often 9) and blue mackerel has 11-12 spines. Species identification may be done by relative distance between the spines: it is larger by half for chub mackerel. The species differ well by coloration of dorsal side: blue mackerel has «marbled» pattern with thin lines, in contrast to chub mackerel that has «zebra» pattern with thick lines.

The total cost of commercial stocks of biological resources in the Okhotsk Sea is evaluated as US$ 23.5 · 10⁹/year on the data on total allowable catch for the year 2014, taking into account the world prices for seafood. The potential cost of all known bioresources in the Sea, including pelagic and benthic fish and invertebrates (for a case of their total utilization), is determined as US$ 58.5 · 10⁹/year. The total value of ecosystem services provided by the Okhotsk Sea is estimated as US$ 294.4 · 10⁹/year, believing that their cost per unit area in the Okhotsk Sea is equal to mean value of ecosystem services per unit area in certain areas of the World Ocean with a known cost - this value for non-market ecosystem services exceeds the cost of traditionally used biological resources. Economic evaluation of ecosystem services presented in monetary units can be used as a tool to enhance conservation of natural complexes in the process of industrial projects implementation.

Walleye pollock tissues include 18.5 % of dry matter, on average. Lipids are 0.7 % of the pollock wet weight, proteins - 15.3 %, carbohydrates - 0.6 %, and ash - 1.3 %. Mean calorie content of its tissues is 940 cal/g for the raw material and 5080 cal/g for the dry matter. Portion of dry matter in its gonads is 14.9-28.0 % for females and 14.5-17.0 % for males; lipids content in the gonads is 0.9-3.0/1.3-1.8 % for females/males and proteins content is 10.7-13.4/10.2-21.5 %, respectively; calorie content of the gonads is 702-1537/4426-5482 cal/g for the raw/dry matter of females and 760-960/4952-5641 cal/g for the raw/dry matter of males. The pollock liver contains 42.2-62.2/34.4-62.4 % of dry matter for females/males, including 25.6-44.5/16.6-41.3 % of lipids and 6.3-9.8/8.1-12.3 % of proteins, respectively, with calorie content 2918-4601/6370-7395 cal/g for the raw/dry matter of females and 2291-4357/6392-7492 cal/g for the raw/dry matter of males. The calorie content of the liver tissue is much lower for the juveniles: 963/2045 cal/g for the raw/dry matter. The pollock faeces contain 15.0-18.4 % of dry matter, in dependence on the fish size, including 1.1-1.6 % of lipids, 1.8-3.8 % of proteins, and 0.9-1.4 % of carbohydrates; their calorie content is rather stable for the raw material (308-362 cal/g) but the calorie content of the dry faecal matter depends strongly on the fish size and varies from 259 to 2377 cal/g. The muscle tissue of pollock accumulates 56.5-93.9 % of the total energy content of its body, the gonads - 0.9-26.6 % for females and 0.4-7.3 % for males, the liver - 7.9-27.2 % for females and 5.7-26.9 % for males, i.e. energy accumulation in gonads and liver of females is higher than in these organs of males. Maximum loss of energy (15-30 %) is observed during the spawning, on the transition from stage 5 to stage 6 of maturity. The total accumulated energy during the pollock growth from juvenile fish (< 17 cm) to super-large size (> 60 cm) is on average 1964 kcal for females and 1465 kcal for males, the difference is caused by higher energy needs for oogenesis, as compared with spermatogenesis.

Shrimp Pandalus goniurus is poorly known in the Tatar Strait. Its distribution, state of stock, and features of biology are described on the data of 7 trawl surveys conducted by RV Buhoro in the western Tatar Strait in April-June 2009-2010 (227 trawls) and September-October 2011-2014 (589 trawls) and commercial catches obtained by fishing vessel Sovetskoye in May 2014 (50 trawls) and April 2015 (59 trawls). Horizontal opening of the scientific and commercial trawls was 16 and 35 m, respectively. About 14,000 individuals of the shrimp were subjected to biological analysis. P. goniurus was distributed along the whole continental coast of the strait northward from 47°20′ N and in spring concentrated at the depth from 50 to 120 m, rarely to 270-300 m, with single findings down to 340 m. Its stock fluctuated from 16 to 70 thousand t, on average 45,000 t (50-70 % within the territorial waters); possible annual catch was estimated as 5,000 t. Commercial fishery of this species was started in 2014 (mean CPUE 1.91 t/hour), the number of fishing vessels increased to 3 in 2015 (mean CPUE 3.26 t/hour, total landing 1160 t). The fishery is distinguished by easy hydroacoustic search of aggregations, long-time fishing within limited areas, high catches, including the catches in nighttime, and low bycatch. The highest concentration of P. goniurus was registered in April 2015: CPUE 11.86 t/hour, density 73.2 t/km² or 10 ind./m². Size-weight parameters of P. goniurus in the Tatar Strait were the best for all its populations: their average values in commercial catches in 2014/2015 were: carapace length 20.4/22.4 mm, individual weight 5.7/7.4 g or 165/116 ind./kg. Its larvae hatching was observed in April-May, mass post-hatching molt of females was supposedly in June-July and breeding molt and spawning - in September-October. First results of the fishery are analyzed, its prospects are estimated, and measures for its regulation are proposed.

Trend significance is evaluated and periodicities are revealed for time series of the sea surface temperature in the North-West Pacific. The dominant periods are selected using Fourier method under the assumption of linear trend existing over sufficiently large fluctuations. On the background of rapid warming in the 1983-2014, increasing fluctuations of summer SST were observed, with 7-year cycle domination, which were gradually shifted to August-September. Patterns of atmospheric circulation preceding to events of extreme thermal regime in summer are identified using the method of interval recognition: the extreme warm thermal regimes are formed mainly by subtropical anticyclones having a tendency to strengthen, and the extreme cold regimes are conditioned by strengthening of summer monsoon in its first stage.

Variations of the sea ice cover in the Tatar Strait (Japan Sea) in 1951-2014 are analyzed in connection with changes of surface atmospheric pressure, geopotential height H₅₀₀, and air temperature over eastern Asia and the North-West Pacific. Besides, water circulation and spatial distribution of the sea ice and water temperature in the southern Tatar Strait are described in detail for March of 2014 and 2015 using satellite data (MODIS/Terra, MODIS/Aqua, MTSAT1). Dominant periodicities are revealed for the whole time series of ice cover and its parts (1951-1982 and 1983-2014): the 5-year cycle dominated in January-March for the former period, and the 2-year cycle - for the latter period, whereas long-term cycles (7-10 years) were weaker. Significant trend is found for the 1950-1982 but it is not significant for the 1983-2014. The ice cover variation correlated with changes of the Siberian High strength in the 1951-1982 but mostly with atmosphere processes over south Asia and the Okhotsk Sea in the 1983-2014, that’s why the 2-year cycle was stronger in the latter case. Mechanism of «cold» winters formation is considered in detail for a case of 2001, and the mechanism of «warm» winters formation - for the 1991, 2008, 2014, and 2015. Two scenarios are available for the latter case of low ice cover: i) abnormally southern position of the trough on H₅₀₀ surface over the Okhotsk Sea; and ii) the ridge on H₅₀₀ surface over the Japan Sea and adjacent continental areas. The ice cover fluctuations in 2015 are forecasted and this forecast comes true for February and March. Features of spatial distribution of the ice, water dynamics and thermal regime are considered in detail for the southern Tatar Strait in March 2014 and 2015 using satellite data.

Smoothtongue Leuroglossus schmidti is a small mesopelagic fish species common for subarctic waters. It rises to the upper epipelagic layer at night for feeding and preys mainly on euphausiids, copepods and amphipods. Its mean index of stomach fullness reaches 68 ‱ in the epipelagic layer, but it almost doesn’t feed deeper than 200 m, judging by a little food in the stomach. In the Bering Sea, euphausiids dominate in its diet and the portion of copepods is small. In the ​​Okhotsk Sea, each of these two groups provides a half of the diet. In the North Pacific, the portion of copepods is 63 % on average, euphausiids are the second important prey, and amphipods occur in the diet occasionally. Daily ration of smoothtongue is about 1.4 %.

Taxonomic and quantitative composition of Foraminifera assemblages in the Zhitkov Bay (Russky Island, Peter the Great Bay, Japan Sea) are described. In total, 52 species from 30 genera and 14 families of benthic foraminifera have been identified in bottom sediments. The most of them are represented by calcareous forms (38 species), with the highest abundance of families Elphidiidae, Discorbidae, and Buliminidae, other are 14 species of agglutinated foraminifera, including 2 common species of families Trochamminidae and Ataxophragmiidae. Population density of benthic foraminifera correlates well with the type of bottom sediments: the highest abundance is observed on alenric sediments and pebble-sandy grounds and the lowest abundance - on fine-grained pelitic sediments. Six assemblages of benthic foraminifera are determined for the Zhitkov Bay, taking into account the prevailing families.

Arrowworms, presented mostly by a complex species Sagitta elegans , form from 16.5 % (in summer) to 24.1 % (in winter) of zooplankton biomass in the Okhotsk Sea, with the mean annual value varied in the range 170.7-230.9 mg/m³ (the data of long-term surveys conducted by Pacific Fish, Res. Center, TINRO averaged for 1986-2012). Their abundance is the highest in winter-spring and the lowest in autumn. The main feature of their spatial distribution is the abundance increasing toward coasts, and the highest concentrations are usually found on the western shelf of Kamchatka, including the Shelikof Bay. However, in summer-autumn their dense concentrations (> 500 mg/m³) are observed sometimes in the deep-sea areas, too. Mean total stock of this taxon in the Okhotsk Sea is assessed as 52.0 · 10⁶ t in spring, 43.1 · 10⁶ t in summer, 38.2 · 10⁶ t in autumn, and 46.6 · 10⁶ t in winter. Recently (since 1997) the total stock in spring ranges between 11.2-38.5 million ton and has even higher variability in winter. The variations of winter-spring stock determine changes in Sagitta juveniles abundance in autumn. Daily food ration of Sagitta is 4.0-6.0 % of body weight for juveniles and 1.5-2.0 % for adults; their mean total annual consumption in the Okhotsk Sea is estimated as 320 million ton, mainly copepods (87.9 % or 281.4 · 10⁶ t that is 64.7 % of Copepoda stock). The other mass prey, as euphausiids, are weakly used by Sagitta (6.1 · 10⁶ t/year or 1.9 % of their total consumption and 2.2 % of Euphausia stock) because they consume mainly eggs and nauplii of euphausiids. Cannibalism of Sagitta is estimated as 2.0 % of their stock annually.

Quantitative characteristics of microbial community, algal periphyton and macrozoobenthos are presented for two tributaries of the Lyutoga River, as the Partizanka River (pink salmon spawning stream) and the Frikena River (without steady spawning grounds), on the base of surveys conducted in July-October, 2011. Number of benthic bacteria in the bottom grounds varied in the range 1.1-4.0 · 10⁶ cells/g in the Frikena and 0.8-11.1 · 10⁶ cells/g in the Partizanka. Oligocarbophilic microorganisms prevailed in the bacterial benthos of both rivers before the beginning of active salmon spawning (July- August), developing mainly on autochthonous organic substrates. In September, with appearance of salmon carcasses after spawning, total abundance of the microorganisms increased and the portion of ammonifying bacteria basing on this allochthonous organic matter became higher in the Partizanka. Algal periphyton biomass changed from 7.8 to 117.0 g/m² in the Frikena River and from 0.5 to 305.6 g/m² in the Partizanka River, with diatoms domination in both streams. Periphyton in the Partizanka was destroyed by flood in September but successively recovered by October, with multiple increasing of the algal biomass, obviously due to influx of nutrients in the process of salmon carcasses decomposing. Biomass of macrozoobenthos was 5.1-21.0 g/m² in the Frikena River and 2.2 to 3.7 g/m² in the Partizanka River, in both tributaries its dynamics was determined mainly by life cycles of aquatic insects.

Feeding and competitive relationships are considered qualitatively and quantitatively for 9 common species of sculpins (Cottidae) on the data of bottom-trawl surveys of the shelf and upper continental slope of Peter the Great Bay conducted in June-September of 2002-2009. Most of these species are facultative predators (elkhorn sculpin Alcichthys elongatus , blackedged sculpin Gymnocanthus herzensteini , plain sculpin Myoxocephalus jaok , snowy sculpin M. brandti , and great sculpin M. polyacanthocephalus ), two of them are euryphages (thorny sculpin Icelus cataphractus and graypurple sculpin G. detrisus ), and two other are benthophages (antlered sculpin Enophrys diceraus is benthophagous polyphage and thread sculpin G. pistilliger is benthofagous worm-feeder). Daily ration of these species is estimated as 2.4-3.6 % of body weight, with exception of antlered sculpin that is distinguished by lower feeding intensity (on average 1.0 % per day) due to features of its physiology. Food competition between sculpins is estimated as very low, at least in summer feeding season. Cases of significant overlapping of trophic niches noted for the predatory species, as common consumption of echiuran Echiurus echiurus and snow crab Chionoecetes opilio , are reasoned by high abundance and availability of these prey, not by real competition.

Spatial distribution of depth and water properties (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen content) are considered in detail for cores of the Okhotsk Sea water masses: subsurface, intermediate, and deep, on the base of the most comprehensive oceanographic data set.

Distribution of total organic matter and its dissolved and suspended forms was investigated in two small estuaries with different morphometric characteristics, as Muchke and Toki Lakes, in late July 2014 at the low tide phase. The time of survey was distinguished by low river discharge and high tides. Content of all forms of organic matter and hydrocarbons was higher in the estuarine waters, as compared with fresh river water, regardless of salinity. The dissolved form prevailed (79.7-98.6 % of the total organic matter content) with concentrations of 5.2-35.7 mg/l. Chlorophyll a dominated (up to 87 %) among phytopigments in both estuaries that corresponded to active development of microalgae. Toki Lake was distinguished by higher productivity and microplankton abundance. On the contrary, allochthonous organic matter was more abundant in Muchke Lake, where interrelation between destructors (heterotrophic bacteria number) and primary producers (Chl a concentration) was observed. Oil-oxidizing microorganisms were up to 60 % of the heterotrophic bacteria number. The hydrocarbons content exceeded the maximal permissible level: 3.6 and 4.5 MPL in Muchke and Toki Lakes, respectively. Both estuaries were subjected to chronic hydrocarbon pressure.

Mean index of gastrointestinal tract fullness for golden king crab Lithodes aequispinus is 15.5 ‱. Detritus occurs in 40.5 % of the cases, so it is a common food for this crab, Polychaeta, Ophiuroidea and Decapoda are 33.2 %, 32.1 % and 15.4 % of its ration, respectively, whereas Mollusca are only 11.5 % of the ration weight, despite of frequent occurrence. Triangle tanner crab Chionoecetes angulatus has the mean index of fullness 20.9 ‱, Polychaeta and Mollusca are two main components of its ration (31.4 % and 27.3 %, respectively) and Decapoda and Pisces are the secondary components (13.9 % and 12.2 %); detritus occurs in 11.2 % of the cases. Cannibalism is observed incidentally for the latter species.

Results of long-term studies of zooplankton species in the Amur Bay (Japan Sea) are analyzed. Two seasonal «waves» of the allochtonous species are defined: the first in the early summer that is formed mainly by inter-zonal copepods spawning in the deep layers ( Metridia pacifica , Neocalanus plumchrus, Calanus glacialis ) and the second in the late summer that is represented by warm-water copepods of subtropical origin ( Calanus pacificus and Paracalanus parvus ) obviously transported from the southern Japan Sea by currents. The latter species is able to dominate in the zooplankton community of coastal waters in the early-autumn season. Variations of this mass species abundance in the Amur Bay under changes of wind-driven upwelling/downwelling circulation are investigated using an empirical advective model of its cross-shelf transport. There is found that strong summer southern on-shore winds (summer monsoon) are favourable for its high abundance but in these conditions it is transported toward the coast by the deep compensatory flow developed only after the summer monsoon change to the winter monsoon with opposite direction; that’s why the high abundance is observed in autumn, in September-October. In the years with weak summer monsoon the species is transported to the bay in mass by the surface on-shore wind-driven flow earlier, in August, but its number decreases after the monsoon change, so the maximum of abundance is not high. Patterns of the transport by cross-shelf currents depend supposedly on the depth of plankton concentration. Recent strengthening of summer monsoon causes heightening of P. parvus abundance in the coastal waters at southern Primorye, up to extreme high values in 2013, but climatic trend of the summer monsoon intensity is negative, so decreasing of this species transport toward Primorye coast and its abundance in the coastal waters, as the Amur Bay, can be expected in the nearest future.

The method for calculation of geometric parameters of trawl system proposed by F.I. Baranov is analyzed. The calculation includes evaluation of spacer force and drag for all elements of trawl system and solution of transcendental equation to find a distance between the otter boards of bottom trawl. Special attention is paid to considering and enhancement of common techniques for determining force and geometric parameters of some elements of trawl system, with identifying the most appropriate ways. The calculations and experimental data are compared for a trawl system using the Scanmar equipment for monitoring of fishing gear. The updated model simulates more adequately the forming of bottom trawl geometry, therefore it can be used for assessment of the catch area during trawl surveys conducted by bottom trawls.

Studies on influence of hydroacoustic fields on behaviour of commercial species and using of hydroacoustic tools for management of fish and squids behavior to increase the fishing efficiency are overviewed. The methods and means of fisheries biohydroacoustics are considered critically and the reasons of their unsatisfactory using in fishery are analyzed. Sounds with a certain spectrum and level are still applied for influence on fish behaviour without sufficient scientific and technical substantiation, so a complex approach to development of effective hydroacoustic tools for remote control of fish movement is necessary. Results of studies on acoustic reception and acoustic activity for schooling physostomous fishes are presented. Spectral-power and temporal parameters of the sounds and their frequency differentiation by fish size are determined. Sound-generating mechanisms of fish are considered and signal significances of the sounds radiated by fish are recognized. Stereotypes of acoustic behaviour are revealed for toothed whales during their hunting upon fish: these predatory cetaceans have special acoustic manipulators able to generate signals for concentration and holding the fish, adapted for hearing system of the prey. Results of hydrobionic modelling of organs and mechanisms for sound generation of marine animals and their technical realization in hydroacoustic devices are presented. The developed devices allow to generate underwater pulse sound signals simulating biological signals of certain physostomous fish species and predatory cetaceans (dolphins and killer whales). Efficiency of these simulating signals influence on behaviour of fish is proved by behavioral experiments and fishing tests. Applications of these devices for various fisheries are discussed.

Conditions for biomodification of the muscle tissue of sea cucumber are substantiated to reduce the portion of unprocessed raw material in the final product - sauce. For this purpose, enzymatic hydrolysis of the tissue with proteases Protamex and CelloLux is applied before the main processing. Effect of these enzymes on structural and mechanical properties of the final product is defined, as well as the effect of stabilizers. Rational concentrations of enzymes are determined for the final products with certain viscosity.