The Pacific waters of Russia are of special interest for marine biologists. These waters are inhabited by flora and fauna of particular diversity, and the continental shelf of the Pacific supports rich marine life. The necessity to expand our knowledge of marine animals and plants and to meet economic needs connected with development of the region were the main reasons for foundation of a scientific institution for fundamental and applied research in marine biology. The Department of Marine Biology in Vladivostok was established in the 1967 according to the project of Dr. Alexey V. Zhirmunsky, who organized and directed the Department, and Dr. Oleg G. Kussakin, who contributed much to this foundation. In January 1970, the Department was reorganized to the Institute of Marine Biology of the Far East Science Center (FESC) of the Academy of Sciences of USSR, now Far East Branch (FEB) of Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS).
Since 1967, hydrobiological explorations have been conducted all over the far-eastern seas from Chukotka Peninsula down to southern Primorye, in Sakhalin, the Kuriles and Commander Islands. More than 30 marine expeditions sailed to coral reefs of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and to the coasts of Vietnam. In the Institute, 26 Doctor dissertations and 170 Candidate theses were defended and more than 3500 scientific publications appeared, including 75 collections of papers and 81 monographs. Since 1975, the Institute of Marine Biology has been publishing "Marine Biology, Vladivostok" ("Biologiya morya"), a journal of Russian Academy of Sciences. Its English translation appears in the USA under the title "The Russian Journal of Marine Biology".
