MFR PAPER 1075 manifold, affecting not o nl y the inter­ nal economy of the USSR but also playing an important role in its foreign policy and in international agreement. Soviet vessels " constitute more than As already noted the fishing industry a quarter of the world's fishing fleet and more is an im port ant and essential part of than one-half of the total tonnage . " the contemporary Soviet economy, not only in providing a significant contribution to the nati on's food basket, but also as a large user of Soviet Fisheries: A Review human and other resources. In addi­ tion to the fleet itself and its share in the ship-handling, shipbuilding, trans­ T. S. SEALY portation, distri bution, and food­ production sectors of the economy, the industry is also managed and supported by a large centralized State administration and an extensive At the end of the Second World The problems faci ng the industry Rand D and educational establi sh­ War the Soviet fishing industry, which at the end of the war were, however, ment. The worldwide operations of had produced a total catch of 1.4 mil­ immense. Reconstruction of damaged the fleet and its continued access to lion ton in 1940, was almost com­ shore faci lities took a large part of all ocean areas make it an important pletely destroyed. More than 5,000 the available resources and the ship­ part of the USSR's relations with both fi hing vessels, alm ost the total com­ building industry was almost entirely developing and developed nations and plement of the USS R's we tern fishing committed to a massive naval ship­ in the international political arena fleet, had been lost and many of the building program. As a result the generall y. ports, harbors and other shore facili­ USSR bought fishing vessels exten­ sively from abroad, particularly from tie in the Azov, Black, Baltic and ADMINISTRATION Northern ea areas were destroyed or the newly-created socialist states like extensively damaged. Poland and East Germany through The Soviet government is responsi­ However, in the 20 years from COMECON agreements. Although ble for determining the proportion 1946 to 1966 the Soviet Union re­ the USSR is now building a far greater of the State budget to be invested in built and expanded its fishing industry proportion of its own ves els, foreign­ the fishing industry, for setting the so that by 1967 it had become the bui lt ships still comprise a very large production targets for the industry world's third largest catcher, after part of the fleet. in terms of the five-year plans and Peru and Japan, with a catch of 5.8 In addition to the problems of re­ for integrating fishery production million metric tons, and had the construction and rebuilding, the USSR and the fishing industry into the over­ world's large t national fleet of fishing also had to expand its fishing activities all economic plan. It is also responsi­ and associated vessels. The USSR's into nontraditional fishing areas and ble for fixing the salaries of persons catch at that time was around II per­ to seek new species in order to meet engaged in the industry and for deter­ cent of the world's total catch, whereas the catch targets set by the central mining the market price of fish and the population of the USSR was o nl y planners. To do this the industry had fish product . around 7 percent of the world total. to create an extensi ve research and The central responsibility for the This development was made pos­ development organization to develop admi nistration and development of sible only by a massive State invest­ new fishing techniques and methods the industry in terms of the "State ment in the industry (estimated at in order to extend its operations into plans for the National Economy" some $4 bi Ili on from 1946 to 1965), every ocean in the world. is vested in the Ministry of Fisheries. and by a centrall y planned program of The results of this dramatic and The Ministry controls the available reconstruction and rebuilding through rapid expansion of the industry are funds and coordi nates the general a seri es of five-year plans. The pur plan for all sectors of the industry to this development was the Soviet from catching, processing, and dis­ Union's need to meet the continuing T. S. Sealy is Director, Mar­ tribution, to ship design and develop­ short-fall between the nation's protein tran Limited: Translators in ment, and fisheries Rand D. requirement and agricultural produc­ Marine Technology, South­ The Ministry, in turn, further dele­ end-on-Sea, Essex, England. tion. A measure of the success achi eved This paper originally appear­ gates executive authority to various can be taken from the fact that fish ed in the English publication 'Territorial Administrations," each and fish products are an esrabli shed Underwater Journal, in August responsi ble for some particular aspect part of the average Russian's diet 1973. We are grateful to of the industry, for example marine and that the industry provides around the author and to the editors fisheries, freshwater fisheries and cul­ of Underwater Journal for per­ one third of the total annual consump­ mission to reprint it in the tivation, and fisheries conservation tion of animal protein in the Union. United States. and management. 5 D programs of the Territori al Re­ search Institutes under its umbrella. These are subdivided in exactly the same fashion as the Territorial Ad­ ministrations, that is in SEVRYBA (Northern TA) th ere is PINRO (Polar Scienti fic Research I nsti tute of Fisher­ ies and Oceanography); ZAPRYBA (Western TA) has ATLANTniro (Atlantic Scientific Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography); AZCHERRYBA has AZCHERniro; KASPRYBA has KASPniro; and DAL'RYBA has DAL'niro. Each of these research centers com­ prises anum ber of departments, not all of which are necessari Iy at the same location, so that all sectors of the industry relevant to that particular Figure 1.-Soviet Fisheries Research Vessel Gizhiga. converted BMRT. Territorial Administration can be investigated by teams fully acquainted In the case of the marine sector of RESEARCH AND with local problems. the industry, th ere are five such T erri ­ DEVELOPMENT Each Territorial Administration tori al Admi nistrati ons: operate one or more fisheries research SEVRYBA, the Northern TA re­ The expansion of the fishing indus­ vessels . Many of these vessels are con­ sponsible for fis hing operations in try is based upon its research and verted commercial fishing vessels the White, Barents, and N orwegian development effort which again is which allows them to conduct com­ Seas and the N orth and Central organized in the same pyramid fashi on parative and feasibility tudies of new Atlantic Ocean; a the administrative side o f the gear and techniques under near-com­ ZAPRYBA, the Western T A re­ industry. At the top is VNI RO , the mercial fi hing conditions. in addi­ sponsi ble for fis hi ng operati o ns in the All-U ni on Scientific Research Insti­ tion to basic fisheries research work Baltic and North Seas and in th e tute for Fisheries and Oceanography like the location, identification, and Central and Southern A tl antic; in Moscow, and VNIRORKh, the asses ment of new stocks, studying AZCH ERRYBA , th e Azov/Bl ack A ll-U ni on Scienti fic Research I nsti­ environmental factor, plotting migra­ Sea T A responsi bl e for fis hi ng opera­ tute for River and Lake Fisherie in tion routes, and so on . tions in the Bl ack, Azov, Mediter­ Leningrad . Both of these institutions T ypical of such vessels is the Giz­ ranean, and Red Seas and the Indi an are responsible to the Ministry which higa (Fig. I) which is a converted Ocean; controls the overall planning of the BMRT. This particular vessel, which KASPRYBA, the Caspi an Sea TA research program . belongs to the ZAPRYBA TA and is responsible only for fis hing operati ons VNIRO, as the central authority, based at Kaliningrad. undertook ex­ in the Caspian Sea; is responsi ble for integrating the Rand tensive fish surveys in the southwest DAL'RYBA, the Far-Eastern TA respo nsible for fishi ng operati ons in the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, and the Paci fic and I ndian Oceans. These Territorial Administrati ons delegate authority to smaller adminis­ trati ve u ni ts-the Regional Adminis­ trati ons, which, in turn, control the small est units, th e "Coll ective" and "State" fis hing enterprises. The a reas controlled by the Terri­ tori al Administrations be ar no rela­ tio nship to the bounda ri es of the Republics which constitute the USSR, a fact which empha izes, once again, the nati onal or "all-uni on" character of the industry. Flgur. 2.-Severyanlra. Soviet Fiaheries Re· a.arch submarine. Atlantic in 1966. As a result of her continental shelf. However interna­ locali zed "community" indu try. work a succe sfu l fishery has been ti o nal competition o n traditio nal which is its most common fo rm out­ established in the a rea (Table 3). It grounds has already approached a side the Soviet Union, into a nati on­ is true that since the establishment of level at which it is becoming increas­ a ll y recogni zed profession with a this fishery in 1966, the recorded ingly difficult for catchers to m aintain , planned career structure.
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