ANALYSIS OF THE DANUBE SHAD (ALOSA IMMACULATA - BENNETT, 1835) ALONG THE ROMANIAN BLACK SEA COAST DURING 2014.

Three shad species of the genus Alosa are known in the north-western Black Sea, including the Sea of Azov: Danube shad (Alosa immaculata-Bennett, 1835), Caspian shad (Alosa tanaica - Grimm, 1901) and Black Sea shad (Alosa maeotica-Grimm, 1901). Catches of the Danube shad is mainly for commercial purpose, having an economic, social and cultural importance in their area of distribution. Their biology and conservation state is less known, especially in the Black Sea. The maximum weight and length of this species is around 40-50 cm and 1000 grams at 7-8 years' age. The research performed are meant to lead to the knowledge of the current state of Alosa immaculata populations and were conducted along the entire Romanian Black Sea Coast, in almost all fishing points, by organizing both expeditions along the coast (gillnet fishing) and sea surveys (pelagic trawl fishing). The paper refers to the biological parameters such as length and weight class structure, age, sex ratio and degree of maturation under specific hydroclimatic conditions for the analyzed period. The peak migration was determined during spring season (April-May), when at the 10m water depth, the seawater temperature of 7.91°C was measured at Sf. Gheorghe_20m station and 8.4°C at Sf. Gheorghe_30m. During summer period, the water temperature ranged between 27.12°C at the surface down to 13.64°C (at 10m depth). Spring and summer seasons are the highly productive for the scientific purposes: 39.75% of the total catches in April-May and 48.3% during June-July. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]