Southern Research Institute of Marine Fishery and Oceanography (PivdenNIRO)

Director: Oleg Petrenko

The first research fishery agency of the Black Sea was established in Kerch (the Crimea) in 1922. It was the ichthyological laboratory, later transformed into the Azov and Black Seas Research Institute of Marine Fishery and Oceanography — AzcherNIRO with its branch in Odesa. In 1988 the institute was given the new name of Southern Research Institute of Marine Fishery and Oceanography (PivdenNIRO). In 1996 two earlier independent research agencies — in Berdyansk and Sevastopol — were joined to PivdenNIRO.

PivdenNIRO is under the authority of the State Committee for Fishery of Ukraine and is a member of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.

PivdenNIRO is the unique in Ukraine institute carrying out versatile scientific, designing and consulting-expertising studies in the sphere of marine fishery and commercial oceanography.
PivdenNIRO carries out studies in the Black and Azov Seas, in the vast areas of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, in the Antarctic waters.

The main objective of PivdenNIRO staff is to provide scientific substantiation for present activities and development of marine fishery in Ukraine by means of designing and realizing complex measures for long-term conservation and sustainable utilization of marine living resources.

The main trends in PivdenNIRO scientific activities:
- Complex studies in biology of commercial, associated and dependent species in the Azov and Black Seas and in the World Ocean
- Scientific justification for long-term conservation and sustainable utilization of bio-resources and monitoring of oceanic, marine and estuarine ecosystems, development of forecasts and recommendations to manage resources and fisheries
- Information statistical control over fisheries activities of vessels flying under the Ukrainian flag in the World Ocean, over fisheries in the territorial waters and exclusive zone of Ukraine, collection, processing and storage and provision with fishing statistical data
- Nature protective studies in the Black and Azov Seas including environmental control over the state of marine ecosystem, development of scientific justification for water bodies protection from pollution and assessment of anthropogenic impact on the water body and water organisms
- Development and improvement of methods in order to increase commercial productivity of waters by development of mariculture (fish farming, acclimatization, water organism production — mussels, oysters, algae)
- Development of technologies in order to produce foodstuffs and feeds, medicinal and prophylactic preparations and biologically active matters extracted from water organisms, environmental technology
- Development of normative documents (standards, technical conditions) of food, fodder and technical production, medicinal-prophylactic preparations and package
- Design of effective and ecologically acceptable gears and methods of commercial fisheries
- Development and improvement of software and mathematics provision for monitoring and information-prognostic system
- Development, compilation and publication of fishing guidelines, atlases and scientific information reviews
- International scientific and technical cooperation

PivdenNIRO incorporates the head institute and 3 branches:
- Odesa Branch with the laboratories of raw material resources, lake fish culture (Izmail),
- Azov Branch (in Berdyansk) with the laboratories of ecology and prognoses of bioresources, commercial fish culture and sturgeon culture,
- Sevastopol Branch with the laboratories of hydroacoustic devices and quantitative assessment of fish stocks, heat preserving equipment.

The head institute includes the following laboratories: Laboratory of the Azov-Black Sea Basin Fish Resources, the Atlantic and Southern Oceans Bioresources, Bioresources of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and Commercial Statistics, Laboratory of Fish Culture, Commercial Oceanography of the World Ocean, Commercial Oceanography of the Azov-Black Sea Basin, Laboratory of Conservation of Sea Ecosystems, Active Biological Preparations, New Kinds of Food Products, Mechanization of Technological Processes, Techniques of Commercial Fishing. And sectors: Information and Publishing Center, Standardization of Fish Production; scientific-research bases: «Arshint-sevskaya Spit» (its specialization is culture and processing of mollusks), «Zavetnoye» (reproduction and culture of marine fish), «Sivash» (its specialization is reproduction and culture of fish in brackish water reservoirs).

PivdenNIRO has available the Center for Satellite Information Receiving, Publishing Center, scientific production plant, pilot site. It also has Museum of Marine Flora and Fauna and Scientific Technical Library containing about 80000 published essays and more than 80000 manuscripts in oceanography, marine biology, ecology, fisheries and other marine sciences. On behalf of Ukraine PivdenNIRO is a national partner of the International Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Information System (ASFIS). The structural units of the laboratories are provided with up-to-date equipment and devices.

PivdenNIRO takes an active part in the activity of international fisheries organizations and commissions, cooperating with FAO, CCAMLR, NAFO, EUROFISH, INFISH, TACIS, UNEP, BSEP, PHARE and others. PivdenNIRO scientists and staff have carried out and are carrying out collaborating studies with scientists from many countries: Australia, Albania, Egypt, Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Cuba, 'Vietnam, France, Mozambique, Republic of Seychelles, Mauritius, Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Russia, Georgia, USA, Canada etc.
PivdenNIRO is ready for practical cooperation with scientific agencies and industrial plants of any forms of property in all branches of its activities.

We propose cooperation in order to put into operation our developments in the following fields:
- technology of marine hydrobiota processing into food, medicinal-prophylactic and fodder products;
- sea mollusks and fish culture;
- design of machines and devices for fish dressing and processing;
- carrying out effective sea and oceanic fishery;
- ecological examination.

We produce and sell food medicinal-prophylactic additive ''Bipolan” made of ecologically pure cultured mussels. It is recommended in complex treatment for oncological diseases under ray and chemical therapeutics, for thyroid gland diseases, for normalization of metabolic disorders, treatment for atherosclerosis, diseases of blood, liver, pancreas, in complex treatment for dispersed encephalomyelitis, for activation of cellular and humoral immunity. "Bipolan" is also used as an antioxidant under hepatic diseases and as adaptogene in the period after operations, in complex treatment schemes of persons of Chernobyl group (it is recommended by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, resolution no. 7.09/266, 17.04.96).

We invite enterprises and firms to mutually beneficial cooperation. Our 75 years experience and knowledge are at your disposal.