p. 191 - 200

ON THE PRODUCTIVE POTENTIAL OF THE BENTHOS FROM
THE ROMANIAN CONTINENTAL SHELF OF THE BLACK SEA 


M-T Gomoiu  
Romanian Marine Research Institute Constanta


Abstract
On the basis of the average biomasses of the main
groups of organisms registered in 1983 and the P/B
coefficients the annual macrozoobenthic production
has been estimated. Thus, from the total average
biomass of 2.5 mil. tons of wet weight distributed
over 22,000 km2 - the zones down to 110 m depth, the
annual zoobenthic production might rise to 10.4-12.4
mil. tons. The production that could be achieved in
zones deeper than 110 m (to the vital limit for the 
bottom organisms in the Black Sea) is very low.
By comparing the benthos registered in 1983 to that
of 1960 there has been observed that the former is
qualitatively and quantitatively much more diminished,
many species either diappeared or became too scarce
to be easly found, the frequency of formely common 
species decreased, and the quantitative distribution 
has become heterogeneous. Maybe, the decreasing catches
of benthophagous fishes is recent years are correlated
with their diminishing stocks parallel to the decreasing
zoobenthal trophic base.