Some fishing features and the state of the Black Sea-Azov pontic shad stock (Alosa immaculata, Bennett, 1836) in the Azov-Black Sea basin during the period 2020-2024

During the history of monitoring fishing and population parameters of the Black Sea-Azov pontic shad, researchers have identified 9 periods of structural organization of the population, mainly due to anthropogenic transformation of the reservoir. The paper presents updated results of an assessment of stock dynamics, fishing mortality, and an analysis of the specifics of fishing organization in the Kerch Strait and the Don river in 2020-2024. The results of stock assessment showed that the biomass of the commercial pontic shad stock was partially determined by the level of fishing mortality, and continues its downward trend starting since 2021, with signs of overfishing. Commercial catches in the Kerch Strait and the The Don had a uniform proportion in the period 2020-2022, in 2023 the main part of the catch volume was recorded in the Kerch Strait, in 2024 – in the Don River. The peak of fishing efficiency was recorded in May of each year (with the exception of 2023), due to the high efficiency of fishing in the lower reaches of the Don River during spawning migration. The lenght structure of the pontic shad population, estimated from the results of bottom trawling in the autumn period, indicates a deterioration in the structure of the commercial population (its abundance and structural diversity) in 2021 and the subsequent restoration of the structure of the commercial population in 2022-2024.