The Russian delegation consisting of ichthyologists, oceanologists, acoustics and hydrobiologists was headed by the head of AtlantNIRO Konstantin Bandurin. On behalf of VNIRO, he thanked his Moroccan colleagues for many years of fruitful and effective scientific cooperation and expressed gratitude to the leadership of the Moroccan Research Institute for assistance in solving operational issues, which contributed to the completion of the small pelagic fish replenishment dynamics survey.
Mikhail Tarasov, Head of the Representative Office of the Federal Agency for Fisheries of the Russian Federation in the Kingdom of Morocco, also made a welcoming speech. He noted that today the scientific and technical component is one of the main directions of Russian-Moroccan cooperation.
During the meeting of experts, the results of a joint survey to assess the replenishment of small pelagic fish carried out on board the Atlantniro STM in October-December 2021 in the area of Morocco were discussed;
Russian experts have made the following conclusions:
- the main feature of oceanological conditions in 2021 was moderately active upwelling over most of the shelf;
- in 2020-2021, there has been a transition from the cooling of epipelagic waters to their warming, which is expected to continue in the next 3-4 years.;
- the warming trend is confirmed by the results of the analysis of the interannual variability of the water mass balance of the Morocco region. In 2021, there was a decrease in the share of upwelling water masses and an increase in the share of South Atlantic central water masses;
- the spatial distribution of the NASC acoustic density index in 2021 corresponded to the general patterns of its distribution in previous years – the highest density of the index was noted in the southern part of the Morocco zone.
The experts of the Research Institute proposed to hold a seminar with VNIRO scientists in the format of a videoconference to discuss methods for analyzing oceanological data and comparing the results of the two institutes obtained after processing ichthyoplankton samples.
In addition, the meeting participants paid attention to the issues raised by the experts at the first session of the Russian-Moroccan Commission on Fisheries: the possibility of applying a differentiated approach for each of the main two groups of fish (+/- 2.5%), the possibility of excluding snipe from the list of fish species that may be in by-catch, and allowing its processing into flour without restrictions, as well as the possibility of changing the monthly catch limit of Russian fishing vessels.
The final scientific recommendations will be considered at the next session of the Russian-Moroccan Fisheries Commission in order to develop further ways to regulate and manage the fishing of small pelagic fish in the area of Morocco.
VNIRO Press Service