Aerial monitoring of salmon spawning grounds

 

Currently, employees of the specialized salmon laboratory have already completed continuous censuses of early-stage sockeye salmon spawners that entered Lakes Azabachye and Nachikinskoye for spawning, the largest spawning grounds for this salmon species.

 

To estimate the number of spawners, an aircraft-type unmanned aerial vehicle “Geoskan 201” was used. This model has a significant flight range of up to 200 km and a flight time of up to 3 hours, which allows for effective survey of long and hard-to-reach areas of spawning grounds.

 

As a result of aerial monitoring work, specialists received high-quality aerial photographs (about 2 thousand photos per flight), on the basis of which detailed orthophoto plans were created and a primary assessment of the level of filling of spawning grounds with early form of sockeye salmon was made. The use of modern UAVs significantly increases the accuracy and efficiency of aerial survey work.

 

This year, monitoring studies of the state of spawning grounds using unmanned aerial technologies will be continued throughout the spawning run of Pacific salmon in the basins of the largest rivers of the peninsula - Bolshaya and Kamchatka.

 

Press service of VNIRO