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Towards the end of the 1980s, when the spawning grounds in the northwestern shelf (NWS) of the Black Sea were lingering with the effects of eutrophication and of an exotic invasive ctenophore, a series of basin‐wide international ichthyoplankton surveys pointed out an increase in the anchovies spawning in the southern half of the Black Sea. Later, with the help of international conservation efforts, several key littoral ecosystem components within the anchovy's historical spawning grounds showed signs of recovery. However, the fate of the spawning stock anchovy in the south remained unanswered. In order to present the current situation in the southern Black Sea after two decades, an ichthyoplankton survey adopting the same methodology as previously used was undertaken during the peak spawning season of the Black Sea anchovy (BSa). The survey showed that the density of eggs was by far greater than for any of the surveys conducted previously. A wider geographical distribution of the eggs indicated an increase in the number of vagrants which had drifted away from the known spawning grounds. In contrast, the increased reproductive activity in the south signifies existence of a growing, non‐migrating southern BS stock. This stock seems to utilize the coastal hydrographic features associated with the rim current facilitating escape (loophole) from gelatinous predators such as Mnemiopsis leidyi and Aurelia aurata.

The retreating ice cover of the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) fuels speculations on future fisheries. However, very little is known about the existence of harvestable fish stocks in this 3.3 million–square kilometer ecosystem around the North Pole. Crossing the Eurasian Basin, we documented an uninterrupted 3170-kilometer-long deep scattering layer (DSL) with zooplankton and small fish in the Atlantic water layer at 100- to 500-meter depth. Diel vertical migration of this central Arctic DSL was lacking most of the year when daily light variation was absent. Unexpectedly, the DSL also contained low abundances of Atlantic cod, along with lanternfish, armhook squid, and Arctic endemic ice cod. The Atlantic cod originated from Norwegian spawning grounds and had lived in Arctic water temperature for up to 6 years. The potential fish abundance was far below commercially sustainable levels and is expected to remain so because of the low productivity of the CAO.

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