Scientific monitoring of the salmon fishing season has been completed in Kamchatka

 

During the 2024 salmon fishing season in Kamchatka Krai, research work was carried out by scientific groups at the stations of the Kamchatka branch of VNIRO, located in the basins of the Khaylyuli, Utka and Bolshaya rivers, Lake Azabachye and Kurilskoye, on the basis of 12 fishing enterprises and on 9 watercourses of Kamchatka Krai. The research covered all fishing subzones of Kamchatka Krai.

 

Research on the assessment of the number of downstream-run juveniles (pink salmon, chum salmon and sockeye salmon) began on May 9. Juvenile counting work was carried out in 7 reference reservoirs: the Kichiga, Khaylyule (Karaginskaya subzone), Ozernaya, Bolshaya, Utka, Pymta (Kamchatka-Kuril subzone) and Kolpakova (West Kamchatka subzone) rivers. The work was completed at the end of July.

 

Work continued on hydroacoustic registration of salmon migrating to spawning grounds in one of the main tributaries of the Kamchatka River basin - Azabachya and in the middle reaches of the Ozernaya (western) river.

 

Aerial visual studies of Pacific salmon were carried out in inland waters of Kamchatka Krai using methods developed by the branch staff, with financial support from Kamchatka fishing enterprises. The total flight time was about 180 hours. An aerial survey was conducted on 55 water bodies, in which about 33 million Pacific salmon were counted.

 

The results of selective and continuous counts using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) on the Azabachye, Nachikinskoye and Kurilskoye lakes, as well as the Paratunka and Avacha rivers, were used as additional information on the spawning numbers of producers and their distribution across spawning areas.

 

In addition to traditional direct counting, video recording and automatic counting of sockeye salmon producers entering Kurilskoye Lake for spawning were carried out using stationary video cameras installed above the access windows of the fish counting fence (FCF). The use of camera traps was continued to obtain quantitative estimates and study the characteristics of the spawning process of Pacific salmon in local spawning grounds.

 

As part of the comprehensive monitoring of activities for the artificial reproduction of Pacific salmon in Kamchatka, the shares of fish of factory origin in mixed catches and producers that approached the factories directly were determined, their biological condition was assessed and return rates were determined.

 

In the reservoirs of the Kamchatka Territory in 2024, biological data were collected from 18,618 specimens of Pacific salmon and char producers, genetic, parasitological and virosological samples were taken.

 

In all areas of Kamchatka during the 2024 fishing season, operational monitoring of salmon spawning approaches and the hydrometeorological situation was carried out, based on the data obtained, scientific recommendations were prepared for consideration by the commission for the regulation of the extraction (catch) of anadromous fish species, including issues of organizing the salmon fishing season in the Kamchatka Territory, as well as biological justifications for changing the PV. At present, specialists from the salmon fish laboratory have begun a comprehensive analysis of the collected data and the preparation of fishery forecasts for 2025.

 

Press service of VNIRO