Quantitative regularities of roe distribution on natural spawning grounds of Okhotsk herring within the macrophyte belt

The aim of this paper is the retrospective analysis of quantitative characteristics of roe coverage on natural spawning grounds of Okhotsk herring within the sublittoral macrophyte belt in the main part of its spawning range (the northwestern coast of the Sea of Okhotsk within Khabarovsk Krai).

Methods. The main data collecting method were the specialized SCUBA roe surveys on the spawning ground, carried out uniformly in the same areas in 2008-2020.

As results, spawning grounds total area interannual dynamics, annual amount of roe deposited on macrophytes, and spawning stock estimates, calculated by these indicators according to the generalized data were analyzed. The temporal and spatial dynamics of the local spawning areas, roe density and mass ratios on macrophytes were analyzed. It was found that the amount of roe laid by herring is associated with a strongly pronounced power dependence with the area of local spawning grounds (y = 0.41x² + 3.27x + 0.46, R² = 0.87, F = 1182.8, p < 0.0001). At the same time, the amount of roe turned out to be weakly related to the density of its laing (R² = 0.14) and the mass fraction of roe on macrophytes (R² = 0.25). Test calculations of the amount of laid roe using the equation of dependence on the area of local spawning grounds showed a high similarity of the results (rs = 0.94) with the calculations by the standard method (using indicators of area and roe density). Therefore, deposited roe quantity is suggested to be calculated from the equation of its relationship with the spawning grounds area estimates. It has been found that roe densities and mass fractions are relatively evenly distributed over depth and latitude.

Conclusion. The revealed patterns can be used to rationalize roe survey and for the herring stock assessment.

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