Hydroacoustic methods of fisheries research in service with the Azov-Black Sea branch of VNIRO

 

The research was conducted to study the quantitative distribution of anchovy in wintering areas off the coast of Crimea and the Caucasus, the distribution and biological state of other commercial fish and their habitat, as well as to study the scale and intensity of natural spawning of winter-spawning fish.

 

The peculiarity of this expedition was that to assess the abundance and biomass of anchovy, not only trawl surveys were used as input data in the areal method, but also a hydroacoustic survey, the materials of which make it possible to estimate the biomass of fish aggregations using the echometric method. For hydroacoustic survey, a Simrad EY-500 scientific echo sounder was used, provided by the industrial hydroacoustics department of the Central Institute of VNIRO.

 

During the vessel's movement, "raw" echo signals were continuously recorded on the computer's hard drive with simultaneous recording of the vessel's current location from the GPS receiver. Control trawling was carried out near the Crimean Peninsula and in the Caucasus region in the waters of the Anapa Bank.

 

At the end of February, the head of the voyage, chief specialist of the laboratory of aquatic biological resources of the "Kerchensky" department, A. I. Milovanov, together with specialists from the industrial hydroacoustics department of the Central Institute of VNIRO, carried out work to decipher the data of hydroacoustic survey of anchovy in the Black Sea (in the winter period of 2024), and also received consultations on the specifics of hydroacoustic fishery research.

 

Continuous improvement of classical and introduction of modern promising methods of fisheries research allows the Azov-Black Sea branch of VNIRO to conduct the most in-depth and high-quality study of aquatic bioresources and their habitat in order to ensure reliable forecasting of stocks and fishery management.

 

Press service of VNIRO