Sustainable development of marine fisheries is a process of formation in society of such a socio-economic system of preferences and knowledge, which is able to resolve the set of contradictions that arise during economic growth. Among them are contradictions between: nature and society, ecology and economy, global economy and national interests, present and future generations, rich and poor countries, etc. Mitigation of rapidly growing contradictions is possible only with the implementation in practice of a new strategy of managed, supported, regulated development with qualitative improvement of fishing technologies. The article discusses the features of fishing as a type of economic activity that determine a system of criteria for measuring its sustainability. In conclusion, the article presents the tasks of scientific support for improving the sustainability of marine fisheries formulated in FAO documents, which should be solved in the context of the following problems: 1) ensuring the environmental sustainability of global and regional fisheries; 2) ensuring the sustainability of the livelihoods of fishing communities; 3) ensuring the economic sustainability of fisheries.

A brief description of the current state of fishing for marine fish species on the coast of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug is given. The main costs for the resumption of their industrial fishing by the shift method are estimated at 62,2 thousand CU during the first year. The organization of fishing by local residents allows you to reduce costs up to 7,2 thousand CU. Based on the data on the average catches of the main commercial fish species and their purchase prices, the payback periods of the main costs are calculated. For the shift method, the payback will be 8-9 years, in the second case, the costs can be recouped during the first year. Commercial risks of fishing on the coast of the Nenets Autonomous Okrug are associated with the lack of approaches of fish to fishing areas, or with the inability to catch it.

The dynamics of by-catches of golden redfish in the Russian fishery of demersal fish in the Barents Sea in 2001–2020 is considered. It is shown that their growth in 2016–2020 was primarily due to the growth of fishing efforts, and not the stock recovery. This was influenced by the cancellation of the moratorium on fishing of the beaked redfish, together with which the golden redfish forms joint aggregations. The increase in by-catch of the golden redfish in recent years has also been facilitated by a reducing of feeding migrations of cod to the northern and northeastern parts of the Barents Sea. This has led to an increase in the overlap of fishing areas of cod with distribution of the golden redfish. The results of the study indicate that when stock of the beaked redfish has recovered, and stock of the golden redfish remains in a depressed state, separate criteria should be used to control by-catch of these species. With joint regulation of by-catch, the growth of the beaked redfish stock will slow down the rate of recovery of the golden redfish stock due to the technical relationship between these species in the multispecies fishery.

To preserve the stocks of protected fish species, it is necessary to regulate their catch. In order to regulate the fishing of whitefish, its population number and average weight shall be estimated. The next step is to calculate the biomass and production of the surviving fish and their total allowable catch (TAC). By the nunber of fish in adjacent years, the total number of dead fish is determined, and then thenatural and commercial mortality and its coefficients are found. The size of fish catch depends on its intensity, which along with TAC, shall be planned.

The results of scientific research conducted in the period from 2019 to 2020 on the Dnieper River within the borders of the Smolensk region are presented. It was found that the excess of the content of pollutants relative to the maximum permissible concentrations for substances of the ammonium group, total iron and permanganate oxidability throughout the studied area. In some areas, a high background of bacterial contamination was detected. In 2019, the water quality corresponded to Class 3 «moderately polluted», and in the summer of 2020 the deterioration of water quality was noted, which is typical for Class 4 – «polluted». Infection of fish with protozoa, helminths as well temporary parasites by larvae of bivalve mollusks was revealed. The composition of the parasites of the examined fish included 13 species. The greatest species diversity was found in roach and bream. Taking into account the low occurrence and low level of that infection, no natural foci of helminthiasis and protozoa have been recorded. A potentially dangerous species of trematodes for humans and warm-blooded animals - Apophallus muehlingi has been found in cyprinid fish (roach and bream), in this regard, it is necessary to comply with sanitary and hygienic rules on fish processing methods when using it for food purposes.

The article provides a brief description of the hydrological and hydrobiological regimes for the Melenkovsky and Muromsky sections of the lower reaches of the river. Oki is located within the boundaries of the Vladimir region. The structure of catches of smooth nets, seine seine, and juvenile travois on different biotopes of the channel zone and subordinate reservoirs of the Oka River is shown. The biotopic distribution of the fish population and the state of the populations of commercial fish species are briefly characterized. The dynamics of changes in catches per effort and the ratio of valuable fish species in net catches on different sections of the river are considered.

An assessment of the current state of the stock of sterlet in the Kuibyshev reservoir is given. In the conditions of a lack of information support about the stock, its state was assessed by nonmodel methods − a qualitative assessment was carried out using the method of estimating the spawning potential ratio (Length based spawning potential ratio − LBSPR), to determine the quantitative state, the DB-SRA (Depletion-based stock reduction) method was used. analysis) − a stochastic analysis of stock reduction that uses a hybrid production model. According to the results of the research, it was noted that by now the resource potential of this species is at a critical level. The size-age composition of catches has changed significantly, where the abundance of older fish groups is extremely low. The calculated spawning potential ratio (SPR) of sterlet from the Kuibyshev Reservoir (15%) indicates overfishing and a significant decrease in stock recruitment. The fish stock value calculated by DB-SRA with various model settings ranges from 5,9 to 29,7 tons and is generally the smallest value observed historically in the reservoir.

The growth dynamics of the yellow-striped flounder Pseudopleuronectes herzensteini shows sexual dimorphism – females are larger than males. Differences in size are manifested in three different generations – May, June and July. The size differentiation in different sexes and different generations is determined by the values that fish reach in the first six months of life – during the period of intensive growth. After this period, the growth rates of fish of different ontogenetic groups practically do not differ. The hereditary program does not play a priority role in the formation of dimensional differences in different ontogenetic groups. When forming dimensional differences in different generations, the priority factor is the thermal regime in the first six months of life.

Annual cycles of generative growth are similar for all ontogenetic groups of barfin plaice. The intensity of generative growth of females is higher than that of males. With age, the maturation of generative products and the spawning become earlier, but the dependence of growth processes on external conditions decreases. Linear and generative growths are coordinated processes. The course of the dynamics of these processes has seasonal variability. The priority of these processes changes with age. The intensity of linear growth decreases with age, and generative growth increases.

The purpose of this article is to form the directions of scientific research that ensure the advanced development of marine industrial fishing, which plays a decisive role in the sustainable functioning of the fisheries complex. The guiding document for the formation of scientific and technical development of the industry and, in particular, marine industrial fishing, is the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation «On the Strategy of Scientific and Technological Development of the Russian Federation No 642 dated December 01, 2016». The Decree notes that fundamental research in Russia does not interact well with the real sector of the economy. It says that a significant part of Russian research lags behind similar developments in developed countries. The Presidential Decree is developed by industry documents: Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation «On approval of the Strategy for the Development of the Fisheries Complex of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2030» No 2798-R of November 26, 2019 and Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No 394 of March 31, 2020 «On Amendments to the State program for the Development of the Fisheries complex». The answer to the question in which direction the scientific search for Russian fundamental science should go to overcome this lag in the field of marine fisheries can be found in the UN environmental programs (UNEP) and FAO documents. The article analyzes the priority directions of research on environmentally safe development, following from these documents, and names the research directions for fundamental science in Russia related to environmentally safe fishing.