The West Kamchatka Shelf 2. Presented by WWF Russia
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1. Title\name of the area: The West Kamchatka Shelf 2. Presented by WWF Russia, Kamchatka-Bering Sea ecoregion [email protected] 3. Abstract (less than 150 words) The West Kamchatka Shelf of the Sea of Okhotsk – located in the Northern Pacific, Russian Far East – the richest in bioresources marine area of Russia and one of the strongest in bio-productivity area of the World Ocean, plays a crucial role in ensuring food security of the country. The West Kamchatka shelf is an important reproduction and harvesting ground for crabs, Alaska Pollack, herring, cod, halibut, etc. It is also a key area for feeding and pre-spawning migrations for various species of Pacific Salmon. This region is unique regarding conserving productivity and biodiversity of the Sea of Okhotsk in its entirety. According to the scientists’ studies, the total commercial harvesting potential of the West Kamchatka shelf may exceed 1 million tones (Zolotov, 2000, 20041). Socio-economic development of the Russian Far East is closely connected with accelerating of natural resources development of various parts of the Sea of Okhotsk, and the West Kamchatka shelf inter alia. Besides highest bio-productive value, the shelf has mineral resources like oil and gas, exploration of which puts serious risks for biodiversity safety of the area. 4. Introduction - Geographic description: The West Kamchatka Shelf is located in the eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk along the western coastline of Kamchatka peninsula in the Northern Pacific – see Fig. # 1. Fig # 1 – Geographical location - Depth range: The depth along the coastline steadily increases when moving away from the shore. The northern part of the area is more shelfy compared to the southern. The distance from the coastline to the 10-meter isobaths does not exceed 7 miles. Further of 10-meter isobaths out at sea there are several distinctive depths and banks\shoals. But overall, the sea-bed of the Western-Kamchatka shelf is flat and low-angle till 250-meter isobaths. Detailed depths scheme – see Map #2. 1 Золотов О.Г., Бабаян В.К., Балыкин П.А., Булгакова Т.И., Васильев Д.А., Максименко В.П. Оценка запасов восточноохотоморского минтая традиционными и альтернативными методами // Пробл. охраны и рац. использ. биоресурсов Камчатки: Докл. Второй обл. Камчат. науч.- практич. конф. Петропавловск-Камчатский: Камч. печатный двор, 2000. С.20-27. Золотов О.Г., Балыкин П.А., Винников А.В. и др. Рыбные ресурсы восточной части Охотского моря: ретроспективный обзор, современное состояние // Экономические, социальные, правовые и экологические проблемы Охотского моря и пути их решения: Матер. науч.-практич. конф. Петропавловск-Камчатский: КамчатГТУ, 2004. 244 с. Fig. #2 – The depths scheme of Eastern part of the Sea of Okhotsk - Oceanography features for the West Kamchatka shelf are well studied, documented and modeled by Russian scientific institutes (Pacific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography, All Russian Research institute of fisheries, Kamchatka research institute of fisheries). General features are shown on figures below. Map #3 – Currents scheme of the Sea of Okhotsk and Kamchatka shelf (blue arrows – cyclone eddies, red arrows – anticyclone eddies) Fig. #4 Temperatures of surface layer in August Fig. #5 Temperatures of surface layer in February (based on data from National Oceanic and (based on data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Atmospheric Administration) Administration) Fig. 6 Salinity of surface layer in August (based on data Fig.7 Salinity of surface layer in February (based on from National Oceanic and Atmospheric data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Administration) Fig.8 Dissolved oxygen in the surface layer in August Fig. 9 Dissolved oxygen in the surface layer in February (based on data from National Oceanic and (based on data from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Atmospheric Administration) Administration) - Hydrology of terrestrial parts adjacent to the West Kamchatka shelf Fig.10 Characteristic of river basins, which fall into the waters of the West Kamchatka shelf Total number of stream-flows Total length, km. Total area of water catch, sq. km. over 42 over 4124 over 62000 Fig. 11 Major rivers of the West Kamchatka - Location features: Though the West Kamchatka shelf is relatively big, it’s still possible to identify the hotspot area of the shelf which is located within national jurisdiction (Fig.12): Fig.12 Boundaries of proposed area Boundaries description: from 57о15/ N along the parallel 57о15/ N till 200-meter isobaths, then to the south along 200-meter isobaths till 50°51′ N 156°39′ E, then straight to the east till Cape Lopatka where this parallel crosses the peninsula coastline (50°51′ N 156°39′ E). The total area of the proposed EBSA zone is about 100000 km2. - Feature description of the proposed area High productivity of the West Kamchatka shelf is the result of favorable combination of hydrodynamic and hydro-chemical factors. High speed of water recirculation in this area gives additional source for fortification with biogenic elements. These factors favor intensive growth of primary planktonic producers – planktonic microalgae, which give food supply and provision for zoo- and ichthyoplankton, and benthic fauna. The waters of the West Kamchatka shelf house over 150 taxons of phytoplankton with high level of biomass per cubic meter (Fig. 12) Fig. 13 Biomass (mg/м3) of phytoplankton at the West Kamchatka shelf (Lepskaya et al., 2008) Year Season 1949 1952 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Spring – – 547 22 80 95 54 267 – 36 4093 – – Summer – beg. of 525 50 – – – 1050 99 – 0.1 398 661 1207 352 Autumn Zooplankton is also characterized by high level of abundance (Fig 13). Fig 14 Structure and biomass of zooplankton at the West Kamchatka shelf (Lepskaya et al., 2008; Максименков, 2007) 2005 2006 2007 Groups July June July June mg/м3 % mg/м3 % mg/м3 % mg/м3 % Coelenterata + + 115.2 11.4 334.4 20.0 47.1 8.1 Polychaeta 505.3 26.7 317.4 31.5 663.9 39.8 135.5 23.3 Cirripedia 0.6 + + + + + 9.9 1.7 Copepoda 1002.1 53.0 167.6 16.6 303.3 18.2 261.4 44.9 Mysidacea 98.7 5.2 + + + + + + Amphipoda 14.2 0.8 + + + + 2.8 0.5 Euphausiacea 185.8 9.8 18.7 1.9 16.5 1.0 0.5 0.1 Decapoda 25.0 1.3 + + + + 14.6 2.5 Mollusca 46.3 2.4 113.5 11.3 254.0 15.2 17.4 3.0 Chaetognatha 7.8 0.4 191.9 19.0 45.1 2.7 84.7 14.6 Echinodermata 0.2 + + + + + 1.2 0.2 Tunicata + + + + + + 5.5 1.0 Varia 5.5 0.4 83.3 8.3 50.8 3.1 1.3 0.1 Total 1891.5 100.0 1007.6 100.0 1668.0 100.0 581.9 100.0 Number of tests 30 32 27 57 Results of marine studies show that average biomass of key groups of zoo-benthos is 130,37 g/m2 at the average abundance – 215,79 pc./m2 (Архипова, 2009). Fig. 15 gives averaged abundance and biomass of ground-fish at the West Kamchatka shelf in 2005- 2010 гг. Fig.15 Species West-Kamchatka shelf 12 miles zone 20-250 m Abundance Biomass, Abundance Biomass, of fish, tones of fish, tones thousands thousands Западнокамчатский Участок в пределах 12-и Семейства (виды) шельф, 20-250 м мильной зоны Численность Биомасса, Численность Латинское наименование Русское наименование Биомасса, т тыс. рыб т тыс. рыб Rajidae Ромбовые скаты 1 486 3 769 87 289 Clupeidae Сельдевые 814 632 157 013 181 085 30 964 Osmeridae Корюшковые 500 226 11 339 142 207 4 477 Gadidae: Eleginus gracilis навага 261 198 92 441 152 231 57 627 Gadus macrocephalus треска 74 093 99 403 37 454 30 820 Theragra chalcogramma минтай 3 991 580 1 521 329 210 711 116 307 Sebastidae Морские окуни 435 185 206 57 Hexagrammidae Терпуговые 15 588 2 442 12 383 1 985 Cottidae Рогатковые 426 786 196 893 161 530 56 462 Hemitripteridae Волосатковые 6 114 6 875 4 600 5 285 Psychrolutidae Психролютовые 1 790 632 121 21 Agonidae Лисичковые 422 471 31 673 123 050 7 675 Cyclopteridae Круглопёровые 760 81 11 2 Liparidae Липаровые 6 368 5 519 393 348 Zoarcidae Бельдюговые 35 614 5 146 3 160 374 Stichaeidae Стихеевые 374 143 12 260 115 944 4 438 Pholididae Маслюковые 52 3 43 2 Anarhichadidae Зубатковые 118 279 90 237 Trichodontidae Волосозубовые 56 755 2 838 41 237 2 000 Ammodytidae Песчанковые 1 127 668 30 368 846 513 22 565 Pleuronectidae: Hippoglossoides elassodon Палтусовидная камбала 589 050 111 632 31 917 6 443 Lepidopsetta polyxystra Двухлинейная камбала 98 946 23 506 33 943 6 922 Limanda aspera Желтоперая камбала 629 225 126 286 319 120 52 080 Limanda sakhalinensis Сахалинская камбала 2 554 869 273 080 384 456 38 403 Myzopsetta proboscidea Хоботная камбала 119 698 25 125 49 496 9 494 Platichthys stellatus Звездчатая камбала 10 067 10 250 7 347 7 668 Pleuronectes Четырехбугорчатая 71 752 49 917 25 457 11 880 quadrituberculatus камбала Reinhardtius h. matsuurae Палтус черный 414 466 18 15 Hippoglossus stenolepis Палтус белокорый 4 275 3 296 1 865 2 325 Atherestres sp. Палтус стрелозубый 7 295 1 918 1 946 298 Суммарно: 7 397 250 1 127 616 2 496 820 330 192 The waters of West Kamchatka shelf are crucially important for wild salmon population of Northern Pacific. Besides the fact that major spawning rivers of Kamchatka peninsula flaw into the waters of the shelf, West Kamchatka is also a key feeding ground for salmon juveniles and also migration routes of Pacific salmon go through the waters of West Kamchatka.