Preliminary assessment of the number and commercial stock of Yellowcheck Elopichthys bambusa (Richardson, 1845) (Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae) Amur river

Abstract

Yellowcheck Elopichthys bambusa (Richardson, 1845) is a valuable commercial species. In 2020, after more than twenty years of a ban on fishing, the yellowcheck removed from the list of fish in the Red Book of Russia. Based on the data of scientific research surveys by nets (2437 catches) of 2010–2021, an increase in its number in recent years in the Russian part of the Amur River basin, compared with the end of the XX century, is shown. This is confirmed by the expansion of the species’ range both up and down the Amur, as well as by the occurrence of yellowcheck migrants in the coastal waters of northwestern Sakhalin. At the same time, in absolute terms, the number of this predator is small. In order to solve the issue of introducing yellowcheck into the fishery, it is necessary to conduct studies to research many aspects of its biology, and, above all, growth, age structure, age of mass maturation, as well as to research the influence of Chinese fishing the current state of its biological resources. The obtained preliminary estimates of the commercial stock’s biomass of yellowcheck (9,2 tons) and its minimal possible catch (1,7 tons) allows starting these works.