The dynamics of the abundance of commercial fish in the Far Eastern seas and adjacent areas of the open part of the Pacific Ocean and factors influencing it

Purpose of the work: finding patterns in the formation of the abundance of large-scale commercial fish in the Far Eastern seas and adjacent areas of the open part of the Pacific Ocean, identifying abiotic, biotic and anthropogenic factors affecting the number of fish. Methods used: to solve the set goal from 1937 to 2020. analyzed data on biomass, catch and productivity of generations of 38 groups of marine fish. Within the framework of the discovery of the initial factors that have a potential effect on the biomass of aquatic organisms, long-term data on the variability of the natural environment were used. To determine the strength of the relationship between environmental factors and the abundance of fish, it was for the first time proposed to use the maximum information coefficient (MIC), the calculations of which were made using the R programming language and the Minerva package. Novelty: the elements of novelty are the identified relationships between the abundance of fish and certain environmental factors through the use of MICs, which can be used for forecasting purposes. The results of the study showed that the highest values of the abundance of aquatic organisms were formed mainly by generations of high abundance with a frequency of 6–13 years (3–7 years for Pacific salmon). Due to the regional impact of abiotic and other factors in the dynamics of individual units of fish stocks within species, a different cyclicality was revealed. Among 15 environmental factors closely related to the abundance of fish, the determining factors were the water temperature in various horizons (from the surface to the bottom), ice cover, phytoplankton bloom, and the biomass of various fractions and species of zooplankton. At the same time, the influence of fishing on the number of studied fish at the present stage is insignificant. Practical significance: the method for predicting catches used in this work by taking into account the interaction of abiotic and other environmental factors and the discovered patterns in the frequency of formation of the abundance of marine fish will increase the efficiency of using their raw material base