Long-Term Changes in Species Composition and Abundance of Commercial Fish Species in Ichthyoplankton in Eastern Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan
摘要
The analysis of seasonal and interannual changes in ichthyoplankton in eastern Peter the Great Bay (Sea of Japan) presented here is based on our own data on the composition and abundance of ichthyoplankton species in the summer seasons of 2011–2012 and from the autumn of 2022 to the spring of 2024. Published data for the 1950s, 1980s, and 2007 have also been used. In the warm season, three periods with characteristic compositions and proportions of the species under consideration are clearly distinguished in the study area: (1) late spring (April–May); (2) early summer (June, occasionally, May and July); and (3) late summer–early autumn (July–October). The 2023–2024 period is characterized by a high, gradually decreasing proportion of pollock eggs in catches in spring due to spawners of the strong 2014 year-class. Noticeable quantities of chub mackerel eggs and, for the first time since the late 20th century, sardine eggs have also appeared in ichthyoplankton. This is indicative of the imminent, previously predicted, another surge in the abundance of its Sea of Japan population to a commercial level in Primorye waters. The reproduction of flounders spawning in spring and summer, despite their relatively high proportion in catches, is currently at a low level compared to that recorded in the 1950s and 1980s.