World Fishing Fleets An Analysis of Distant-water Fleet Operations Past - Present - Future Volume V The Baltic States The Commonwealth of Independent States Eastern Europe NATIONAL MARINE FISHERIES SERVICE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration U.S. Department of Commerce II 1/, . World Fishing Fleets: An Analysis of Distant-water Fleet Operations Past - Present - Future •\ -0 -H /vv •SSViM 'j-rOH ;^00'' Volume V AyV>JB' The Baltic states AyoivHcavn I nW'll'-"".'^''lOia The Commonwealth of Independent qtat^u^vi/j Eastern Europe » to 5. '^ Prepared by ^^ The Office of International Affairs ■C3 Milan Kravanja Ellen Shapiro ^ A \ November 1993 ^ i/M\\ ^ NOAATech. Memo. NMFS-F/SPO-13 S £M§1^ 2 'r ys NATIONAL MARINtH^K^^S SERVICE National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Silver Spring, Maryland November 1993 ^*^.f"of^° WORLD FISHING FLEETS The Baltic States, Commonwealth of Independent States, and Eastern Europe Volume 5. 1.0 Overview 1 2.0 Baltic States 9 2.1 Overview 11 2.2 Estonia 21 2.3 Latvia 45 2.4 Lithuania 67 3.0 Commonwealth of Independent States 87 3.1 Overview 89 3.2 Russian Federation 93 3.3 Ukraine 147 3.4 Georgia 169 4.0 Eastern Europe 177 4.1 Overview 179 4.2 Bulgaria 185 4.3 Poland 209 4.4 Romania 255 4.5 Former Yugoslavia 275 m IV I # I -3 r- 1 I 05 I I I • t. -3 c T I f STATISTICAL NOTE A major source of statistical data for several countries in this study was the Statistical Tables of Lloyd's Register of Shipping which provided uninterrupted fleet statistics from 1975 through June 1992. Lloyd's most recent publication. World Fleet Statistics, is especially useful since it gives the statistical data as of December 31,1 992 (the Statistical Tables only listed the status of the fleets as of June 30 of each year) and also calculates the average age of each country's fleet. The Lloyd's Register of Shipping includes worldwide data for vessels having over 500 gross registered tons (i.e. high-seas fishing vessels) that can be used for analyzing trends and making comparisons among countries. The most difficult problem that the authors encountered was the recent non-existence of most of the covered countries. The 3 Bakic states, Ukraine, Georgia, and, last but not least, the Russian Federation, became independent sovereign states in late 1991 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics dissolved into its 15 component parts. This event made it difficult to follow the historical sequence of the increase or decrease of the fishing fleets in those countries. (For other countries such historical data are available in the Lloyd's Register of Shipping.) In obtaining information, we were fortunate to receive the outstanding cooperation of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) which provided a complete vessel inventory for all the covered countries. Deconmiissioning of high-seas vessels from tlie registers of the covered countries (by reflagging, selling, or scrapping of vessels) is occurring so rapidly that we have no illusion that the report presents a complete, updated picture. Through many personal contacts and conmiunications, the authors have tried, to the best of dieir ability, to verify the available data and eliminate any inconsistencies and contradictioiLs. These efforts are described mostly in the notes accompanying die various statistical appendices. Any help from the readers to obtain additional information on decommissioning would be most appreciated. EMPHASIS ON HIGH-SEAS FLEET The authors have defined, for the purposes of this study, liigh-seas fishing vessels as vessels having over 500 gross registered tons. The authors decided to use this definition since most high-seas fishing vessels in the covered countries exceed the 500 GRT mark. Existing data, such as those provided by Lloyd's, give worldwide fleet statistics based on the gross tomiage, but do not describe where these vessels are deployed. The authors have had to rely mainly on extensive NMFS files to determine the fishing grounds where these liigh-seas fleets are deployed. In our study we have used the term "high-seas" to identify vessels having over 500 GRT that fish beyond 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones. In some cases, we used the term "distant-water" to identify fishing grounds far from homeports. CITATION OF THIS PUBLICATION This volume should be cited as: Kravanja, Milan and Ellen Shapiro. Tlie Baltic States, The Commonwealth of Independent States, and Eastern Europe (fishing fleets). Published in: "World Fishing Fleets: An Analysis of Distant-water Fleet Operations. Past-Present-Future. Volume V." Prepared by the Office of International Affairs, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce. Silver Spring, Maryland, November 1993. VII A WORD ABOUT REFLAGGING Reflagging, registering a vessel in another country, is a growing concern for fishery managers around the world. Reflagging is done for many reasons. The simplest case is a vessel owner in one country selling a vessel to a new owner in a different country. In other cases, local requirements may require all joint venture fisheries' vessels to fly the flag of one particular country. In some instances, and particularly for older and less efficient vessels, fishermen may not be able to operate profitably in one country and may reflag their vessel in another where taxes, fuel costs, and crew salaries are less onerous. While there are several major reasons for reflagging a vessel, one reason of growing concern is reflagging to avoid internationally agreed measures for the conservation and management of living marine resources. By reflagging a vessel with a country that is not a signatory to an agreement designed to manage and/or conserve living marine resources, a vessel may avoid the regulations/conservation measures for a regional area. The problem is compounded by the fact that many of the countries frequently used for reflagging simply do not have the staff to monitor the fishing operations of their flagged vessels throughout the world. The issue of reflagging is gaining international attention and is the subject of the proposed Agreement to Promote Compliance with International Conservation and Management Measures for Fishing Vessels on the High Seas approved by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in November 1993 for ratification by interested States. SPECIAL NOTICE: In the preparation of this report, the authors noted that in many instances reflagging simply involved the transfer of ownership from one owner to another. The reasons for other reflaggings were less clear. However, the purpose of diis project was to identify trends and the results obtained through our research efforts show that reflagging has increased sharply in the last few years. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Numerous individuals have helped to prepare this report. The authors wish to thank the many individuals outside the Deparmient of Commerce who contributed to this project. The Foreign Service Officers and Foreign Service Nationals at U.S. diplomatic posts were extremely helpful in obtaining information and providing useful comments and evaluations of our draft documents. The U.S. Navy provided invaluable data that helped to identify the magnitude of reflagging. The statistical group at the FAQ Department of Fisheries in Rome provided needed statistics on the fishing catch. Special thanks are due to the Lloyd's Register of Shipping for allowing us to use their data. Members of the Diplomatic Corps in Washington, D.C. provided support to our research efforts, and to each of them we would like to express our sincere appreciation. We particularly value the assistance of the individuals who contributed to die country analyses: Baltic States: The cooperation of Mr. Andrew Silski. Baltic Countries Affairs Officer, U.S. Department of State, in coordinating liaison with U.S. Embassies in tlie Baltic states, is much appreciated. Mr. Eriing Hulgaard of the Danish Ministry of Fisheries contributed significantly to our understanding of Baltic fisheries. Estonia: Mr. Jaak Pollu, Advisor to the Estonian Board of Fisheries, and Minister of the Environment, Tonis Kaasik, provided informative insights into Estonian fisheries. The dedicated help of Ms. Ingrid KoUist, Economic Officer at tlie U.S. Embassy in Tallimi, and of Foreign Service National, Mr. Indrek vui Kaju, made Estonia the best and the most up-to-date of tlie three Bakic reports. Latvia: Mr. Andris Ukis, Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs, spent long hours during a visit to Washington briefing the authors on tlie intricacies of Latvian fishery trends. Lithuania: Mr. Algirdas Rimas, Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Vilnius, provided an informative cable on tlie Lithuanian high-seas fleet that was tlie basis of our study. Also helpful were tlie insights of Mr. Eugenius Shpelys, Director General of die Klaipeda fishing port. Russian Federation: Despite a request from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to the State Committee on Fisheries of the Russian Federation, information was not received in time for inclusion in this report. The Russian chapter is based in its entirety on NMFS files and informative discussions with the current Russian Fisheries Attache, Mr. Yuriy N. Bovykin, and the Assistant Attache, Viktor N. Solodovnik. The autliors would like to take this occasion to thank their many friends in tlie Russian Federation for past support and cooperation. Ukraine: Despite repeated requests from die U.S. Embassy in Kiev to the Ukrainian State Committee on Fisheries, information was not received in time for inclusion in this report. Without the extensive files of the Office of Naval Intelligence of the U.S. Navy, tliis chapter could not have been written. Georgia: Mr. Steve Carrig, Georgia Desk Officer, U.S. Department of State, assisted us in trying to obtain the latest information on tlie Georgian high-seas fleet. Unfortunately, because of the political turmoil in tlie country, it was impossible to get information in time for this report. Bulgaria: Mr. John Struble, Economic Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, provided helpful answers to the many questions Uiat die authors had on the Bulgarian fleet. Many thanks also to Mr. Todor Ivanov of Okeanski Ribolov for his cooperation. Poland: The U.S. Embassy in Warsaw transmitted updated statistics on the Polish high-seas fleet prepared by die Department of Marine Fisheries in the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Economy which were the most extensive and accurate of all the countries covered. Fonner Polish Fisheries Attache in the United States, Mr. Edward Budzinski, provided helpful insights, and the audiors would like to thank him for his long-term friendsliip and cooperation. We wish to thank Professor Zygniunt Polanski, the Director of the Polish Marine Fisheries Institute, for his help in interpretating conflicting data. Romania: The U.S. Embassy in Bucharest provided an informative cable on Romanian shipyards. Former Yugoslavia: The Slovenian Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Petric, kindly reviewed and commented on the Yugoslavian chapter. The authors were assisted in the preparation of the report by Charles Taylor, Tanya L. Rasa, and Christine Parker. Doretha W^iite and Ruth Ware carefully typed many of the lengthy and complicated appendices under the supervision of the Division Secretary, Carolyn MacDonald. Lance Samuels ably prepared many graphics illustrating the text. Our colleagues, Dennis Weidner and Mark Wildman contributed their well-researched insights on the operations of the covered countries' high-seas fleets in Latin American and Asian countries. William Folsoni, the European Desk Officer in the Division, helped us format the final report. Without his and Mark Wildman's dedicated assistance over the last weekend, this report could not have been finished on time. The invaluable contributions made by the dedicated staff of the Office of Naval Intelligence and the help of Frederick Beaudry, the Division Director, in obtaining photographs and country maps, are greatly appreciated. IX Prepared by: Division of International Science, Development and Foreign Fisheries Analysis The Office of International Affairs, F/IA2 National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA U.S. Department of Commerce 1335 East- West Highway Silver Spring, MD 20910-3225 TEL: 301-713-2286 FAX: 301-713-2313 1.0 OVERVIEW The fishing fleets of the Baltic states, Eastern Europe, and the Commonwealth of Independent States harvested approximately 9.8 million tons of fish and shellfish in 1991 (slightly under 10 percent of the world catch). The Commonwealth of Independent States fishermen landed over 9.2 million tons. The Russian Federation alone harvested 6.7 million tons of this total. The remainder was caught by Baltic, Ukrainian, and Georgian fishermen. East European countries (Poland, Romania and Bulgaria) caught 0.6 million tons; their catch has decreased drastically in recent years. These countries have 4,113 fishing vessels registering 8.8 million gross registered tons (CRT) in 1993. This includes 2,778 high-seas vessels (those having over 500 CRT) registering 8.6 million CRT, as highlighted in table 1. This high-seas fleet consists of some of the largest fishing vessels in the world; the gross tonnage of the individual vessels averages 3,090 CRT per vessel! This fleet of large vessels poses a potential problem to managers of living resources around the world. Its fishermen can quickly target stocks of fish anywhere in the world and have the potential to overfish these resources in a short period of time. The dissolution of the Soviet Union has resulted in a sharp lessening of controls over these fleets; many vessels now operate independently. It is difficult, if not impossible, to follow the movements of these hundreds of huge fishing vessels. These countries have been reducing their registries by reflagging vessels to other countries in the last 2 to 3 years. The three Baltic states reflagged 16 vessels with a total tonnage of 38,382 CRT. Poland is known to have reflagged 28 vessels, but Romania and Bulgaria have not reflagged any, while 26 high-seas vessels (160,408 CRT) from Russia and 6 vessels (18,945 CRT) from Ukraine were reflagged. These former Communist countries are currently experiencing profound economic and political changes. The once tightly administered fishing fleets of these countries are undergoing privatization and are attempting to establish fishing operations wherever possible. Many vessels are seeking new opportunities in distant fishing grounds under bilateral agreements, joint ventures, or as chartered vessels. It is difficult to account for all of the adjustments currently being made in these huge fishing fleets as the situation is changing constantly, while the fishery authorities remain tight-lipped about them. Table 1.— Former Communist Countries. Fishing and high-seas fishing vessels; 1993. Country Fishing and fishery support vessels High-seas fleet Coastal/Inshore fleet Total fishing fleet Vessels Tonnage Vessels Tonnage Vessels Tonnage Number 1.000- GRT Number 1.000- GRT Number 7,000- GRT Baltic States Estonia 90 226 56 10 146 236 Latvia 152 502 71 10 223 512 Lithuania 116 429 9? 0 209 429 Sub-total 358 1,157 220 20 578 1,177 Commonwealth of Independent States Russia 1,999 5,941 755 157 2,754 6,098 Ukraine 247 890 108 17 355 907 Georgia* 15 45 20 3 35 48 Sub-total 2,261 6,876 883 177 3,144 7,053 Eastern Europe Poland 85 251 215 25 300 276 Romania 50 221 7 1 57 222 Bulgaria 24 79 10 1 34 80 Sub-total 159 551 232 27 391 578 Total :,77S 8,584 1,335 224 4,113 8,808 GP.T - Gross registered tons. *Georgia rejoined the Commonwealth hi October 1493. Source: Office of Naval Intelligence. US, Navy, July 1993. I. REGIONAL OVERVIEW A. Baltic States The three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, became independent in 1991, after being part of the Soviet Union for almost five decades. The Baltic fishing industries which were part of the centrally planned economy, directed by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries in Moscow, had to readjust quickly to the new free-market demands. Their fishing fleets were previously supported by the giant (and expensive) Soviet network of fishery support vessels and representatives in foreign ports. The Baltic states now have to secure their own arrangements for access to fishing grounds in foreign 200-mile zones. The Baltic fisheries also had to face the loss of the infrastructure and domestic Soviet sales network on which they relied over the past half century. Most importantly, they can no longer count on cheap, subsidized diesel oil, but have to purchase it with foreign currencies. The difficult transition from a command to a free-market economy has been exacerbated by the need to reorganize the administrative staffs following the dissolution of the Soviet Western Fisheries Administration in Riga. The capacity of the Baltic fishery fleets exceeds the currently available fishery resources. The moratorium on fishing off Namibia and the loss of fishing in the Moroccan 200-mile zone were especially painful. To counter these unfavorable developments, the Baltic countries have concluded several bilateral fishery agreements and have begun to reduce the gross tonnage of their high-seas fleets. During the last few years, a total of 31 vessels with over 70,000 gross tons have been decommissioned (16 of the units were reflagged) and the process is by no means ended. In July 1993, the Baltic states owned 358 high-seas fishery vessels with a gross tonnage of 1.2 million CRT. The average age of these fleets is only 14 years, but the maintenance and modernization of the fleet is complicated by the fact that the vessels were constructed in countries whose current economic environment is not conducive to efficient supply of spare parts or major repairs. Among the most important factors for the future profitability of the Baltic fishing industries is the privatization program which all three governments have begun. Another way to obtain sufficient raw materials to operate the vessels and the processing plants lies in the joint ventures with foreign fishing companies which still have abundant fishery resources within their countries' 200-mile economic zones. Leasing and chartering arrangements will help in keeping the Baltic fishermen employed. Estonia Estonia's fishing industry, based in the country's two marine ports at Tallinn and Parnu, employs about 30,000 people. In 1991, Estonian fishermen landed 315,000 metric tons of fish and shellfish, most of which was exported; approximately 90 percent of exports were sold to the former Soviet Union. The catch was mostly used to produce edible fishery products, but over 20 percent was reduced to fishmeal (for animal feeds) and fish oils. Estonians have always been fishermen and the fishing industry plays an important part in the country's economy, contributing almost 900 million rubles to the Estonian gross domestic product in 1991. The value of fishery exports in 1991 amounted to 775 million rubles, or over 85 percent of the total value of fisheries output. The Estonian fishing fleet has 150 vessels with a total gross tonnage of 236,000 tons. The high-seas fleet accounts for 96 percent of the entire tonnage, even though it has only 75 vessels of various classes. Many vessels are aging and will have to be decommissioned. The capacity of the Estonian high-seas fleet exceeds the current availability of fishery resources. The high- cost of diesel fuel further restricts the operations of the distant-water fleet. Estonian fishery managers, however, promptly reduced 18 percent of the fleet's tonnage in the last two years. They are actively searching for partners in joint fishery ventures which would allow them access to fishery resources. Bilateral fishery agreements have been concluded with a half dozen countries. Several government-owned companies have been privatized and the prospects for Estonian fisheries appear favorable. Latvia A leading traditional sector in the Latvian economy, the fishing industry used to employ 48,000 persons, according to the Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs. The Latvian fishing industry is based mainly in two fishing ports — Riga and Liepaja. The fishing industry contributed almost 500 million rubles to the Latvian economy in 1990. As the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991, the Latvian fishing fleet consisted of 351 fishing and fishery support vessels, but has since been reduced to 223 units. Among the three Baltic Soviet republics, Latvia's fleet was by far the largest, comprising almost 50 percent of the 762 vessels based in the ports of the Baltic republics. The high-seas fleet, owned by the Government, is fishing primarily in the Atlantic, both northern and southern. The principal fishing grounds are off Canada, Mauritania, Nigeria, the Faroe Islands, and Russia. The Government, however, is exploring the possibility of concluding additional bilateral fishery agreements. Lithuania Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic countries. In 1990, Lithuanian fishermen harvested 355,000 metric tons of fish. The high-seas fishing fleet of 153 vessels landed 326,000 metric tons of fishery products. The small Baltic fleet landed only 18,000 tons. About 9,000 tons were harvested from fresh-water ponds. By the end of 1992, however, the total catch was halved to 170,000 tons. The fisheries sector employed about 24,000 persons in 1991; of this total, 9,000 were employed in the fishing fleets, while 15,000 were working in the fish-processing industry. The Lithuanian fishing fleet consisted of 201 fishing and fishery support vessels as the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991. Of this total, 153 vessels fished on the high- seas and 48 in the Baltic. Lithuania had the smallest fleet out of the three former Soviet Baltic republics, comprising only about 26 percent of the 762 vessels in the Baltic fleets. Most of the fishing fleet is in poor condition when compared to the average standards of Western fishing nations. Nearly one half of the fishing vessels deployed in the Baltic Sea and on the high- seas is obsolete. The processing fleet is in even worse condition; only about a third of the vessels is considered worthwhile to upgrade and modernize. However, the difficult economic situation currently facing the Lithuanian Government will likely mean that funding for fleet modernization and replacement is unavailable. B. Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) Following the dissolution of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) in December 1991, most of the component republics established a looser political association called the Commonwealth. The Baltic States and Georgia chose not to join the CIS, so that only two republics with high-seas fishing capabilities remained in the CIS — the Russian Federation and Ukraine. In October 1993, however, Georgia also asked to become a CIS member. In the former Soviet Union, the fishery fleets of all republics operated as a unit divided only by the various fishing regions. Russian, Ukrainian, and Georgian vessels all fished together in any particular fishing ground. The fleets were under the administrative command of the regional administration which organized the so-called expeditions. A fleet of 30 to 40 large stern factory trawlers was managed by a fleet commander whose headquarters were aboard a large baseship. It did not matter from what Soviet republic the vessels originated, they were all part of this highly-organized fishing flotilla. The baseship received the catch from the trawlers, processed it, and passed it on to refrigerated fish carriers for transportation to homeport. The commander's flagship, supplied with fuel and other needs by tankers and cargo transports, distributed these supplies among its vessels. This system, which prevailed for the past 40 years, was suddenly disrupted by the new political arrangements. Each independent country now had to organize its own support and transportation activities, and obtain its own fuel (Georgia and Ukraine have no oil resources and must, therefore, buy diesel oil from Russia or other countries). In addition, the bilateral agreements which were formerly negotiated by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries were no longer valid. The Russian Federation, as the internationally recognized successor state to the Soviet Union, took over most of these agreements. Ukraine and Georgia, therefore, have to make their own arrangements to obtain access to foreign 200-mile fishery zones. Georgia is especially disadvantaged because its diplomatic corps and political leverage are limited. All three CIS countries are currently undergoing a major shake-up of their economic systems. In Russia, the slow process of reform, until recently hindered by a conservative parliament, has made privatization more of a hope than a reality. In Ukraine, a severe economic depression has negatively affected the fishing industry. According to one report, only a third of the Ukrainian fishing fleet is deployed in harvesting aquatic resources. No information is available on the fate of the Georgian high-seas fleet following the invasion and occupation of its main fishing port of Poti by rebel troops on October 10, 1993. All CIS republics suffer from the inability to provide their fishing fleets with sufficient quantities of diesel fuel in a timely manner. Confirmed reports indicate that at times as much as a half of the Russian fleet was idling in various ports because of fuel shortages. Other reports describe an even worse situation whereby vessels already deployed on the high-seas had to stop their fishing operations because fuel tanlcers did not reach them on time. The authors have been unable to verify any fuel shortages in Ukraine or Georgia, but it must be assumed that a similar, if not worse, situation prevails. The future of the CIS fishing fleets will depend on the ability of the three countries to obtain the necessary fishery resources to maintain the fleets' operations and provide protein to the domestic population. Also important is the export of fishery products to earn hard currencies with which to modernize and replace the fleet, purchase diesel fuel, and support operations in foreign fishing zones. The joint fishery ventures with foreign companies and arrangements to lease, charter, or sell fishery vessels will become an important part of the future activities of the CIS fishery administrators. Russia has a natural advantage because its 200-mile exclusive economic zone contains some of the most prolific fishing grounds in the world. Ukrainian high-seas fishing operations will probably have to be reduced along with the fleet. The prospects for the Georgian fleet are bleak and it remains to be seen whether it can continue functioning. C. Eastern Europe The three major fishing countries in Eastern Europe, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria, were associated with former the Soviet Union in the so-called 5-partite agreement (the former East Germany was the fifth member) to help each other develop high-seas fisheries. Although the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, now the Russian Federation, was the leading force behind the expansion into the world's oceans, all three East European countries rapidly developed their own fishing fleets. Poland invested in an important and productive network of fishery shipyards which built hundreds of vessels over the past five decades. Bulgaria and Romania Romania and Bulgaria are both adjacent to the Black Sea and their fisheries have been traditionally based on that body of water. In the 1960s, however, they began to buy high-seas fishing and fishery support vessels from the Soviet Union, Poland and East Germany, and to build an infrastructure for the processing of landed fish. Along with the increase in the fishery vessel tonnage, their marine catch grew rapidly until the late 1970s when coastal countries began to extend their fishery jurisdictions to200-miles. Neither Romanian nor Bulgarian fishery administrators were able to adapt themselves to the new conditions. As a result, their catch began to stagnate and finally decrease rapidly; soon the aging fleet became more of a burden than an asset. The outlook for both industries is bleak and the lack of rapid privatization helps to perpetuate the inbred inefficiency of large government-owned corporations. The Bulgarian high-seas fishing company was forced into bankruptcy and will have to be bailed out by government funds to continue operations. The Romania fishing industry is also still government-owned and, as in other the former communist countries, its two principal goals are to fully utilize its fishery fleet and so maintain the full employment of its fishermen and to export fishery products to earn hard currency. Poland In Poland, the high-seas fishing industry has better maintained its viability and, although the catch has decreased somewhat and the high-seas fleet shrunk, it continues to be a powerful presence on the world oceans. The future, however, could be catastrophic. Almost the entire Polish high- seas fleet has been concentrated in 1992 and 1993 in the international waters of the Sea of Okhotsk, an enclave surrounded by the Russian 200-mile zone. The Russian Federation, claiming that the fishery resources in that area, as well as their originating stocks in the Russian zone, are in danger of being overfished, are demanding that the Poles, along with the Koreans and the Chinese, stop fishing there. The Poles (and others) refused to do so, stressing that their fishery in international waters is not subject to regulation by coastal states. The Russians have, therefore, exerted diplomatic pressure to declare a moratorium on foreign fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk. If this occurs, the Polish high- seas fleet will have to rapidly find new resources, or even more rapidly, reduce the number of its vessels. Former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ) ceased to exist in 1991 when Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence. The country's fisheries have been based on the Adriatic Sea except for a brief, unsuccessful attempt in the 1970s to enter the Atlantic tuna fishery. Most of the 2,000 kilometer-long Adriatic coast is now in the Republic of Croatia. Currently, Croatia and Slovenia have no high-seas vessels and are not expected to expand into high-seas fishing in the near future. 2.0 THE BALTIC STATES 10 2.1 OVERVIEW The three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania, reoccupied by the Red Army in 1944-45, were part of the Soviet empire until August 1991. Their fishing industries were developed (along with those of other Soviet republics) as an integral part of the centrally planned economy, directed by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries in Moscow. A part of the Soviet worldwide fishery activities was conducted from the Baltic states. Baltic-based fishery operations were serviced, as needed, by the Soviet fishery representatives in foreign ports, where repairs, supplies, water, fuel, and other necessities were provided. The three Baltic countries had no effective policy control over the expanding high-seas fisheries conducted from their ports during the Soviet period. The operations of their fishing and fishery support fleets were managed directly by central Soviet authorities through the Western Fisheries Administration (ZAPRYBA), headquartered in Riga, Latvia. In 1993, the Baltic fishing fleet included 578 vessels with a total tonnage of 1,177,000 gross registered tons (GRT). This included 358 high-seas vessels (1,157,000 GRT) that registered more than 500 GRT each. A. Background The Baltic fishing fleets, operating for 40 years under the system of the Soviet expeditionary fishing fleets, organized their own fishing expeditions consisting of high- seas trawlers supported by motherships, fish-processors, tankers, water supply vessels, and other support vessels, but these fleets were always Ashing under the administrative command of the ZAPRYBA. A ZAPRYBA fleet commander (naclialnik flota), located aboard one of the large motherships, was responsible for day-to-day operations and for the transfer of flsh to motherships for processing, or to refrigerated transports for delivery to home ports. This system was in force until September 1991 when the Baltic republics achieved independence and took over the operational command of their fleets, processing plants, and other flshery assets from the ZAPRYBA. At that time, each Baltic country had to set up a new administrative system to manage its Ashing industry. Estonia's fisheries are now managed by the Estonian National Board of Fisheries of the Ministry of the Environment. This Board develops and 11 administers fisheries policy, maintains and protects fishery stocks, coordinates research activities, and issues regulations. Latvia's fisheries management was under the jurisdiction of the Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs until August 1993, when it was turned over to the Ministry of Transportation. Lithuania's fisheries management is handled by the Fisheries Department in the Ministry of Agriculture. 1. Problems of independence The fishing industries in all three Baltic states faced a real crisis when they became independent. Their — by now substantial — fishing industries suddenly found themselves without the infrastructure and sales network which they had relied on over the past 4 decades. The new Baltic state-owned fishing companies lost maintenance support in fdreign ports, centralized marketing agents, and, most importantly, cheap, subsidized Soviet diesel oil. The Baltic fishing companies have also lost the large Soviet internal marketing network. Before 1991, the Baltic fish- processing plants simply shipped their fishery products to any Soviet domestic trade organization that wanted them. The Russians now consider such deliveries to be imports from a foreign country. The same goes for exports to Ukraine, Belarus, and other parts of the Commonwealth. Besides a specific order for fishery commodities, customs papers have to be made out, duties (if any) paid and, most importantly, payment must be received. Fortunately, the Baltic states have maintained their relationship with the principal Soviet fishery trading company, SOVRYBFLOT, which now operates as a Russian holding company. Various enterprises in the three Baltic countries own shares in SOVRYBFLOT: the Estonian state companies, ESTRYBPROM and ESTRYBKHOZSOIUZ (Estonian Cooperative Fisheries Union), hold two and one shares respectively; the Latvian state- owned Riga Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet and the Liepaja Fishing Fleet Base each holds two shares; and the Jura state-owned fishing fleet of Lithuania holds eight shares.' The most severe problem resulting from independence is how to obtain diesel fuel. In the Soviet period, the subsidized fuel, delivered by the Soviet authorities, represented only about 10-15 percent of the operating costs of Baltic fishing vessels. Now, at world prices, fuel represents anywhere from an estimated 50-70 percent of operating costs. The availability of diesel fuel is not much of a problem, the problem is its price and the fact that it has to be paid for with foreign currencies which all three Baltic countries currently lack. Some bartering was attempted, but it reportedly was not very successful. 2. International agreements Baltic fishermen used to have access to a large number of 200-mile zones under the 59 bilateral fishery agreements which were concluded by the former Soviet Union. After they won their independence in September 1991, such access rights were no longer available. Each of the three Baltic countries must now negotiate its own agreements for access to fisheries off foreign countries. In view of their inadequate diplomatic leverage and the limited number of diplomatic posts which the Baltic states maintain, this has proven difficult. For example, the Baltic fleets used to fish as Soviet-registered vessels in the Moroccan 200-mile zone where the former USSR in 1991 obtained a large annual catch quota of 850,000 metric tons (t). In 1992, the Russian Federation renegotiated the former Soviet accord and managed to obtain a 3- year agreement allowing it to net 400,000 t of sardines and mackerel annually.^ Morocco, however, chose not to conclude a similar agreement with the now independent Baltic states (or with Ukraine). More positive are fishery relations with the European Community (EC) which, during the past 2 decades, did not allow Soviet vessels to fish in its Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). This policy was revised in early 1992 and the Baltic states initialed agreements with the EC in July 1992. Lithuania signed in Vilnius on July 14, Latvia in Riga on July 16, and Estonia in Tallinn on July 17. If the respective parliaments ratified these agreements, they would have become effective in 1993. The accords provide for reciprocal access to respective fishing zones, financial contributions for fishermen's training, and the establishment of joint ventures.^ These agreements should also facilitate the admittance of the Baltic states into the Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission, and the granting of catch quotas allowing them to fish in that sea. Unfortunately, Russia is claiming successor state rights for the quotas previously allocated to the former Soviet Union, and, even if the Baltic States gain admittance to the Commission, there may be a dearth of available resources. There have been calls from the International Commission for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) for a 1993 moratorium on Baltic cod and from Greenpeace for a complete moratorium on Baltic salmon. The agreement with the EC was strongly supported by Denmark which soon promoted its own bilateral arrangements. The Danish Government has approved a DK50 million (US$ 7.5 million) grant to the 3 newly independent Baltic countries. These funds will buy 6,000 t of Baltic Sea herring which will be donated to Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, in equal amounts of 2,000 t each. The herring will be caught by Danish fishermen from the island of Bornholm (which is going to help the serious unemployment among the fishermen there), paid for by the Danish Government and then donated to the Baltic countries which will send their own refrigerated transports to pick it up. One half of the total amount will be donated to the Baltics in whole, frozen form, while the other half will be headed and gutted; some herring might even be filleted in local Bornholm fish-processing plants. The Danes stipulated in the memorandum of understanding that the donated fish can be used only for domestic consumption in the Baltic states, but the end-products may be exported to members of the Commonwealth of Independent States and other East European countries except to the former German Democratic Republic (which is now united with West Germany)." The Baltic Governments will charge their fish-procesing plants a small administrative fee and transportation costs. Any profits obtained from the sale of the canned or smoked products will be used to modernize antiquated processing equipment. Such purchases have already been made in Denmark mostly for updated, used processing equipment. 13 The Baltic States International boundary ir National capital -"^ — ■ — '-' Railroad Road Estonia, Lativa. and Liihuanm have no interna/ administrative divisions SO 100 Kilofneters ■ ■ --i" . 1 ' , SWEDEN 801946 (ROOl 12) 10-91 The three Baltic states have also separately concluded bilateral fisheries access agreements with the Faroe Islands (with the consent of Denmark). The agreements provide the Baltics with 1993 catch quotas totalling 28,000 t to harvest blue whiting in the Faroese fishing zone in exchange for giving Faroese fishermen a catch quota of 12,000 t of various species. Neighboring Sweden also resumed fishery relations with the Baltic states soon after it recognized them as independent states. The fishery administrators of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania signed a quadripartite agreement with Sweden in Stockholm at the end of January 1992. The document defines the contested fishing grounds in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. An estimated 75 percent of fishery stocks in the area will be managed by the Baltic states.^ Another area where the Baltic states have been able to obtain some fishery catch quotas is in the Northwest Atlantic. The fishing in this area is governed by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), which allocates the catch quotas to various countries. During NAFO's Fourteenth Annual Meeting in Dartmouth (Canada) in September 1992, Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, received a 1993 allocation of 37,300 t of various species, mostly redfish (27,000 tons). In bilateral negotiations, following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, Russia transferred 12,000 t of its 1993 ocean perch (redfish) quota to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, with each country receiving 4,000 tons. In September 1993, the Russian Federation was allocated 32,573 t of fish for the 1994 fishing year including -- for the first time -- 5,000 t of illex squid which can easily be sold for foreign currencies. The portion that will be transferred to the Baltic countries will be decided later in bilateral talks. A severe blow to the Baltic fishermen was the moratorium on fishing within its 200-miles which Namibia declared in 1991. A large proportion of their total catch came from this area, regulated by the International Southeast Atlantic Fisheries Commission. The Namibian Government, however, has recently announced that foreign vessels can apply for fishing licenses in 1994, and it is possible that some Baltic vessels may be deployed there in the future. Other fishery agreements and joint venture arrangements that individual Baltic countries have concluded, in addition to those mentioned above, are enumerated and explained in the body of the report under each Baltic state. B. Fishing fleets The capacity of the Baltic fishery fleets greatly exceeds the current availability of fishery resources. In mid- 1993, the Baltic high-seas fishing and fishery support fleets had a gross registered tonnage of 1,156,400 tons, or almost 97 percent of the entire fishery tonnage (appendix 1). The remaining 3 percent consisted of small fishing vessels under 500 gross tons most of which fished in the Baltic. Given the fact that high-seas tonnage in the late 1940s was zero, one can see how rapidly the Baltic fleets developed to reach almost a quarter of the total fishery tonnage of the former USSR, while the Baltic states' population (8.0 million inhabitants for all three countries) barely reached 4 percent of the total Soviet population. As shown in appendices 1 and 2, the 16 Latvian fishery tonnage is not only the largest among the Baltic states, it is also the most disproportionate when related to the population. Every fifth Latvian "owns" a gross high-seas fishery ton, but only every eighth Lithuanian does. One possible explanation for this imbalance is the fact that the Soviet Western Fisheries Administration, which was ordering the vessels and paying for them, was located in Riga, Latvia. After independence was granted to the Baltic states by the Russian Federation in 1991, there were no disputes - as far as is known - about the ownership of fishery vessels. Whatever vessels were in Baltic ports or were "owned" by the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian fishery administrations, became the property of the newly independent states which lost no time in re-registering these vessels under their own registry. The few exceptions confirm the rule.* Cognizant of the excessive capacity of their fishery fleets, all three Baltic countries have begun to reduce the number of vessels (appendix 3). Estonia leads the way in decommissioning 35,000 gross registered tons, or almost 15 percent of its total tonnage. Lithuania reduced its large fleet by only 5 percent, while Latvia (with the largest Baltic fleet) was able to reduce its tonnage by barely 3 percent in the last two years. ^ The data for Estonia are the most complete and reliable because of the outstanding cooperation of the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn which repeatedly checked the data available in Estonia; it is not impossible that Latvia and Lithuania have also removed from their registries additional vessels, and the authors hope that local readers will be kind enough to notify them of new changes in the fleet complement. Of special interest is the fact that the decommissioned 6 percent of the Baltic fishery fleets was mostly sold for scrap and thus removed from the over- capitalized high-seas fleets. The average age of the Baltic fleets is only 14 years; the vessels were built more recently than those in practically all other East European countries, including Russia. Since the reduction program will presumably eliminate the oldest vessels, it is hoped that the age of the Baltic fleet will decrease even further. C. Outlook for the Baltics Another important factor governing the future efficiency and profitability of the Baltic fleets are the privatization programs. As long as the fleets continue to be owned by the governments (and therefore likely to receive subsidies to cover their deficits), the Baltic high-seas fisheries will not operate at the maximum economic efficiency. In late 1992, Lithuania's privatization programs were the most advanced among the 3 Baltic countries. Its government expected 75 percent of state-owned assets to be privatized by the end of the year, while in Estonia only 15 percent of sdch assets were privatized. In Latvia, the program was barely in the policy planning stage. A major difficulty is the giant size of the Baltic state-owned fishing companies; no local or even foreign owner has the necessary funds to buy them out. The Baltic fishery managers have already divested themselves of many non-fishing enterprises which were accumulated over the years when investment funds were readily available. In addition to divestitures, a tendency is noted towards breaking up large organizations into smaller parts. This was especially pronounced 17 among the former Soviet-type fishery cooperatives (kolkhozes). Another path to survival for the Baltic fleets will be the joint ventures with foreign fishing companies (especially in countries where fishery resources are still abundant within their 200-mile EEZs). Bareboat leasing arrangements and charters will also help to keep the Baltic fishermen employed and the vessels running. It is important that the fleet be occupied since its being idle in ports is economically disastrous. The question remains: is it still possible to operate the Baltic fishing fleets profitably once they are streamlined and the inefficient old vessels are retired? According to the best available information this is still possible, but the margin of managerial errors and inefficiencies will be much smaller. The Baltic countries realize this necessity and are trying to modernize not only the fishing fleets, but also the infrastructure, by attracting foreign investments and/or by entering into joint ventures with Western fishing, fish- processing, and equipment-manufacturing companies. ENDNOTES 1. VAO SOVRYBFLOT, Spravochnik Aktsionerov, Smeshannikh Obshchestv, Sovmestnikh Predpriiatii i Zagraniclvnkli Predstavitel'stv. Moscow, 1992. 2. Tills amount will be reduced by 50,000 t for each year of the agreement. 3. Eurofish Report, 30 July 1992. 4. Danish Ministry of Fisheries, Personal Communication, 26 July 1993. 5. Radio Russia, 27 January 1992. 6. One such exception was the training vessel, Kruzenshtem. This vessel was seized by the victorious Russian Army from Nazi Germany after the end of World War II, and was used by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries to train cadets from fishery schools and the merchant marine academy. The Kn/zenshtern '.v homeport was Tallinn at tlie time of the breakup of the USSR, but the Russians insisted it belonged in the Russian fleet and, in December 1991, the vessel set sail for the port of Baltiisk near Kaliningrad. 7. The reduction of vessels data are by no means complete. vessels with 7,827 GRT marked to be sold in August 1993. thus further lowering the country's gross tomiage. For instance, the Estonians had an additional 4 Tliey might have been decommissioned already Appendix 1. Baltic states. Fishing and fishery support fleets, by country and selected vessel sizes: 1993. Country Number GRT Average GRT ESTONIA Under 500 Above 500 Total GRT GRT 56 90 146 9.852 225.713 235,565 176 2,508 1.613 LATVIA Under 500 Above 500 Total GRT GRT 71 152 223 9.884 501.935 511,819 139 3,302 2,295 LITHUANIA Under 500 GRT Above 500 GRT Total 93 116 209 19.784 428.756 448,540 213 3.696 2.146 GRAND TOTAL 578 1.195.924 2.069 Source U S Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. July 1993 Appendix 2. Baltic states. Gross registered tonnage of the high-seas fleet versus population of country: 1993. Country Tonnage Pop ulation GRT per ■ inhabitant (1,000 tons) (in millions) (in GRT) Estonia 225 7 1.6 7.1 Latvia 501 9 2.7 5.4 Lithuania 428.8 3,7 8 6 Total 1,156 4 8 0 6 9 Sources U S Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. July 1993 (for gross tonnage): Central Intelligence Agency. The Uorld Factbook J'^92 Washington. DC. 1992 (for population as of July 1992), Appendix 3. Baltic states. Fishing fleet reduction, by country, gross registered tonnage, and percentage of reduction: September 1993. Country Gross reqi Total istered tonnage Reduced Percentage* LATVIA LITHUANIA ESTONIA 511,819 448 , 540 235.565 15.330 20.547 34.704 3 0 4 6 14 7 BALTIC TOTAL** 1,195.924 70,581 5 9 Source The individual country reports give the sources from which this information was obtained * Percentage of total gross tonnage which is known to - have been decommissioned from the respective country registers, ** Includes both high-seas and Baltic fleets. 19 20 2.2 ESTONIA Estonia is one of three Baltic countries that became independent after being part of the Soviet Union for almost five decades. The Estonian fishing industry was part of the centrally planned economy, directed by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries in Moscow. The republic's fishing fleet was supported by the giant (and expensive) Soviet network of fishery support vessels and representatives in foreign ports. Estonia now has to secure access to fishing grounds in foreign 200-mile zones itself and can no longer count on cheap, subsidized Soviet diesel oil. Estonia's fisheries have also lost the infrastructure and domestic Soviet sales network on which they relied over the past half century. The difficult transition from a command to a free-market economy has been exacerbated by the need to reorganize the administrative staff following the dissolution of the Soviet Western Fisheries Administration in Riga. The Estonian fishing fleet has about 80 high-seas vessels with a total of 226,000 gross registered tons (GRT); its capacity exceeds the currently available fishery resources. CONTENTS I. Background 22 II. Fishing Fleet 22 A. High-seas Fleet 22 B. Fleet Reduction 25 C. Types of High-seas Vessels 25 D. Baltic Sea Fleet 26 III. Shipyards 26 IV. High-seas Fishing Grounds 26 V. High-seas Fishery Catch 27 VI. High-seas Fishing Companies 27 VII. Employment 29 VIII. Fishery Agreements 29 IX. Joint Ventures 30 X. Outlook 30 Sources 31 Endnotes 35 Appendices 37 21 I. BACKGROUND Estonia is the smallest of the three Baltic republics both, in size and population. It has an area of roughly 45,000 square kilometers (km), including 2 large islands located in the Baltic Sea which together account for 8 percent of Estonia's land area. The country's population numbered 1.6 million inhabitants in 1992. This northern- most former Soviet Baltic republic has a coastline of 1,393 km, if calculated on the baselines alone. Including the coasts of all islands, however, Estonia's total coastline almost triples to 3,794 kilometers (about 2,357 miles).' Estonia's fishing industry, based in the country's two marine ports at Tallinn and Parnu, employs about 30,000 people." In 1991, Estonian fishermen landed 315,000 metric tons (t) of fish and shellfish, most of which was exported; approximately 90 percent was exported to the former Soviet Union. The entire catch was not used to produce edible fishery products only; over 20 percent was reduced to fishmeal (used in animal feeds) and fish oils.^ Estonians have always been fishermen and the fishing industry plays an important part in the country's economy, contributing almost 900 million rubles to the Estonian gross domestic product in 1991. The value of fishery exports in 1991 amounted to 775 million rubles, or over 85 percent of the total value of fisheries output."* II. FISHING FLEET The Estonian fishing fleet consisted of 210 fishing and fishery support vessels as the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991. Of this total, 95 vessels fished on the high-seas and 115 in the Baltic.^ Estonia's fleet comprised only about 28 percent of the 762 vessels based in the ports of the three former Soviet Baltic republics. According to the Nordic Investment Bank study, however, much of this fleet was aged and should have been retired. By July 1993, the Estonian fishing fleet was greatly reduced and now numbers less than 150 vessels having in excess of 100 gross registered tons (CRT), with a total CRT of 236,000 tons. The high-seas fleet accounts for 96 percent of the entire tonnage, or 226,000 tons. Table 1. Estonia. Fishing fleet, by selected vessel capacity. 1993. Capacity Number GRT Average GRT Under 500 GRT Above 500 GRT Total 56 9.852 176 90 225,713 2.508 146 235.565 1.613 Source US Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993 A. High-seas Fleet In 1991, the Estonian state-owned, high- seas fishing fleet consisted of 95 vessels." By November 1992, the active fleet was reduced to 75 vessels of various types, according to FAO.^ This was 20 units less than the year before; their "disappearance" is explained in section B below. The 90 vessels listed in table 1 as having over 500 GRT are most likely all engaged in high-seas fishing; (For a complete list of the vessels showing vessel names, type, GRT, country and year built, see appendix 1.) 22 ^-x Baltic Sea C^ HELSINKI^ Finland ^, Cjulf of Finland -J Paldiski ^ . TALLINN 1 ] 1;-^ r(.s 1 1 '•1'^' • Tartu / -"'."' ■ ' ■ Cult u( Riga X ^,/-^ A % Latvia X .«/■■*■ ,-, .^ tt^l.nnete«s > ,.-.,-.. .:/..._.. .RIGA ,*^ ^ ' ' ' B. Fleet Reduction The Estonian fishing fleet has been reduced by 13 vessels during the past 2 years (appendix 2). Seven vessels, owned by the state-owned OOKEAN company, were sold to Indian and Pakistani companies, probably to be scrapped for iron. (Estonia itself does not have a vessel-scrapping facility.) Most of the vessels sold for scrap were 20 years old and older. The other six vessels were reflagged, mostly to former Soviet states. A large fishery training vessel, the Kruzenshtern, was reportedly returned to Russian operative control.* The total gross tonnage of sold (scrapped) and reflagged vessels amounts to almost 38,000 GRT, approximately 17 percent of the Estonian high-seas fleet tonnage. The stern factory trawler Korall, owned by the OOKEAN company, is no longer engaged in high-seas fishery operations. It is moored in Tallinn and serves as a training vessel for students of the local technical-vocational fishery school.* This significant reduction of the Estonian distant-water fleet is not yet completed. In August 1993, four additional Estonian vessels were marked for sale, including 3 large stern factory trawlers. There has been buyer interest, but the contracts have not yet been signed. A small Baltic fishing vessel, the Kirre, is also on the block.'" If and when these units are sold, another 8,000 gross tons of capacity will be eliminated from the Estonian high-seas fleet. C. Types of High-seas Vessels Estonia's distant-water fleet has 17 different classes of fishing and fishery support vessels. They are identified in appendices 3 and 4. Most fishing vessels have between 2,000 and 3,000 gross tons and are owned by the OOKEAN high-seas fishing company in Tallinn. The medium-sized side and stern trawlers are mostly owned by former cooperatives (kolkhozes) that have been privatized. The largest type in the Estonian fishing fleet is the giant floating cannery and fish- processing stern factory trawler of the MOONZUND class (appendix 2). With a gross tonnage of 7,700 tons and two engines (each having 31,600 horsepower), this vessel not only harvests fish itself, but can also freeze the catch and produce up to 26,000 standard cans a day (appendix 5). A relatively modern vessel, the MOONZUND class was built in the late 1980s in the VOLKSWERFT Shipyard in Stralsund, located in the former German Democratic Republic. Also known as the ATLANTIK- 488 class, this freezer trawler can flsh with both bottom and mid-water trawls and can operate on its own, or with a fisheries "expedition" in the proverbial seven seas of the world. Fish (either whole or processed) is frozen; bycatch and offal are reduced to fishmeal and fish oils. Medicinal fish oils are also produced. The finished products can be transferred at sea, or brought into port by the vessel itself. Practically all Estonian fishing vessels were built in Soviet or East German shipyards. An exception ares the two Polish- built fish-processing baseships. These are larger (13,500 GRT) and longer vessels than the MOONZUND class, but they are much older (almost 30 years old) and less efficient. They also have no canning facilities. Built in Poland's Gdansk Shipyard, they are known as the B-64 or PIONERSK-class vessels. 25 D. Baltic Sea Fleet A fleet of about 117 small trawlers, driftnetters, and longliners over 20 meters long operates in the Baltic Sea." In 1991, the Baltic Sea fishermen harvested approximately 20 percent of Estonia's total fisheries catch, or about 80,000 tons.'^ The catch is mostly herring, sprat, cod, and salmon. An additional 500 small boats fish along the coast of the Baltic Sea.'^ III. SHIPYARDS High-seas fishing vessels are not built in Estonia. Some companies build small wooden and fiberglass rowboats, but these are not fishing vessels. Fishing nets are also not manufactured in Estonia; they have generally been imported from Russia. However, there are about 10 small companies that convert the nets into fishing traps/gear. ''' rV. HIGH-SEAS FISHING GROUNDS The Estonian high-seas fleet operates in the international waters of the Northwest Atlantic, beyond the Canadian 200-mile EEZ. The fishing in this area is governed by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) which allocates the catch quotas to various countries. During NAFO's September 1992 Fourteenth Annual Meeting in Dartmouth (Canada), Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, received an allocation of 37 , 300 t of various species, mostly redfish (27,000 tons). In negotiations, following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, Russia transferred 12,000 t of its 1993 ocean perch (redfish) quota to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, with each country receiving a catch allocation of 4,000 tons. At the subsequent annual meeting, the Russian Federation obtained the 1994 catch allocation of 32,000 t, but its division among the Batlic countries has not yet been negotiated as of this writing. Estonians fished in the Russian 200-mile zone in the Pacific while the country was still a part of the Soviet Union. The Latvian Ministry of Fisheries reported in July 1991'^ that a few Estonian vessels were idling in the Pacific because of a lack of diesel fuel. Currently, 2 Estonian vessels fish in the Pacific Russian 200-mile zone. The 775-GRT trawler Paista is fishing for cod and ocean perch, while the large stern factory trawler Parallaks is deployed as a freezing and transporting vessel in the Russian Far Eastern salmon fishery. Owned by the MAJAK company of Tallinn, both vessels are leased to an unspecified Kamchatka company.'^ Other major areas where Estonian high- seas fishermen operate are off the Faroe Islands in the Northeast Atlantic, and off Mauritania and Namibia in the Southeast Atlantic. Recently, their operations were also noted in the Indian Ocean (where a joint venture with Indian interests is being planned) and in the Barents Sea.''' Two Estonian vessels belong to the TUNTSELOV (tuna hunter in Russian) class, but they are in effect stern trawlers. The Estonian fishermen do not harvest tuna. 26 V. fflGH-SEAS FISHERY CATCH VI. HIGH-SEAS nSHING COMPANIES The Estonian high-seas fishing fleet landed only an estimated 110,000 tons in 1992, less than a half of the 1991 catch and less than a third of what was landed in the peak year of 1988 (appendix 6). The high-seas catch remained fairly steady until 1989 (figure 1) at about 350,000 t per year, but it began to decline in 1990 (by 10 percent) and in 1991 (by 15 percent). In 1992, it decreased by 42 percent to only 110,100 t; the decline was caused by the political and economic turmoil that followed the country's declaration of independence in March 1990'\ and which was exacerbated by the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union in December 1991. 1 ,000 metric tons □ Baltic Sea catch □ High-seas catch ^^ '^ '^ '^ '^ '^ '^ '^o '^o The largest Estonian distant-water fishing company is OOKEAN which owns the OOKEAN Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet, located in Tallinn. In August 1991, the company owned 57 fishing and fishery support vessels. By August 1993, the OOKEAN high-seas fleet had been reduced by 7 vessels; its current strength is thus 50 units with a total gross tonnage of 177,000 tons (appendix 3). Despite the Estonian Government's drive to privatize state-owned companies, OOKEAN is still formally Government-owned although its management is operating increasingly as a profit-making venture. In 1992, OOKEAN's catch was 90,904 tons, of which 80 percent was exported. These exports were worth US$9.8 million; another US$2.5 milion was sold on the domestic market. The largest percentage of exports was sold to West African countries off whose coasts the company conducts fishing operations. About 15 percent of the exports were sold to CIS countries of which Russia took the largest amount, about 7 percent. This figure does not include exports to Latvia which equalled 0.2 percent of the total. For additional details on export sales, see figure 2. Figure 1. -Estonia. Baltic Sea and high-seas fisheries catch by quantity; 1975-92. Estonia's four former fishery kolkhozes, Majak, Saars Kalur, Parnu Kalur, and Hiiu Kalur annually contribute about 60,000 tons to the total catch. They fished in the Baltic and expanded into high-seas fisheries. 27 After independence, the fishery kolkhozes were privatized and converted into holding companies. These 4 former kolkhozes, and 2 newly organized private companies, own the remaining 24 Estonian high-seas vessels (appendix 4). The former kolkhozes were restructured into the following companies: the joint stock company MAJAK (located in Tallinn); the stock company DAGOMAR (Hiiumaa); the stock company MOONSUND SHIPPING (Saaremaa); and the leasing company VAAL (Parnu). The 2 small private companies, KALMAR and MARVEL, are both based in Tallinn. The MAJAK fishing company owns 9 vessels (appendix 4). All are leased to other countries because MAJAK has discontinued high-seas fishing operations. Four of MAJAK' s trawlers (Kandova, Polva, Pirita, and Paljasaare) have been leased to a Murmansk stockholding company named NORD and fish for cod in the Barents Sea. Two vessels (Paistu and Parallaks) are leased African Countries 44.4% ,^ Japan . 0.3% ^s^ South America \ 10.3% ^ ^ ^ C.I.S. Europe ^^ 14.9% 9.9% Estonia 20.1% Figure 2. --Estonia. Distribution of fishery production, by percentage of total; 1992. to a Russian Far Eastern fishing company and deployed in the Russian Pacific 200-mile zone.'' The remaining two vessels (Onekotan and Tiskre), both large stern factory trawlers, have been leased to a company in Guinea- Bissau. The deployment of the small side trawler, Kondopoga, is not known. Since the lessees are not required to inform MAJAK company of any details about their catch, it is not known how much they are harvesting, or what species. The DAGOMAR company's 3 medium stern trawlers (ZHELEZNYAKOV class) fished in the Barents Seas and off the West African country of Guinea-Bissau in 1992. DAGOMAR' s 200 fishermen landed 6,300 t of various fish, for an average of over 30 t per fisherman. The targeted species were shrimp and cod in the Barents Sea, and sardines, carangids and octopus off Guinea Bissau. The MOONSUND company also owns 3 medium stern trawlers of the ZHELEZNYAKOV class. They are fishing for shrimp in the Barents Sea in two joint ventures. The first one is with a newly- established private Estonian company KALMAR, which leased one trawler; the other two vessels are in a joint venture with a Russian company. In 1992, MOONSUND 's vessels were deployed off Colombia under a contract concluded by SOVRYBFLOT (a Russian company which arranges joint ventures, fleet maintenance, and the export of fishery products), but that joint venture contract was not renewed in 1993. 28 In addition to the privatized former fishery cooperatives, 2 newly-established private companies operate 3 fishing vessels: the KALMAR company has 2, and the MARVEL company one. The KALMAR company was organized as early as 1990, when Estonia was still a part of the Soviet Union, by a captain of a fishing vessel, Kaljo End, who became the Chairman of the Board of the new company. Starting in 1990 with one medium stern trawler {Rotalia) which was bought from the Laane Kalur kolkhoz, the company leased a second one {Sorve) from the MOONSUND company, a privatized former kolkhoz, and plans to buy or lease several more vessels in the future. The company's fishermen harvest shrimp in the international waters of the Barents and Greenland Seas where there are no fishing catch quotas. ^° The catch of about 800 t per vessel is sold in Norway where the company also purchases diesel oil. Captain End. who for years has been fishing in the Northeast Atlantic, not only knows the fishing grounds well, but also has at his disposal valuable research data secured by the fishery exploratory vessels of SEVRYBA's (Russia's Northern Fishery Administration) Exploratory Service (PROMRAZVEDKA). The KALMAR company is profitable and expanding. Information on the MARVEL company is not available. VII. EMPLOYMENT Estonian fisheries reportedly employed 30,000 persons in 1991; about 4,300 fishermen fished on the high-seas, the remainder was employed in the Baltic fisheries, in the processing industry, fish marketing, trade, etc. Estonia's fisheries thus provide employment for about 2 percent of the nation's total population which is estimated at approximately 1.6 million inhabitants. Fisheries was thus an important part of the country's economy. The state-owned OOKEAN high-seas fishing company currently has 3,915 employees. Most are deep-sea fishermen and crews (3,114 persons); 280 persons, less than 9 percent of the total, are in administrative positions and the remaining 521 employees work in supply, building maintenance and other support jobs.^' The privatized fishery kolkhozes employ about 3,000 persons of which less than a half (an estimated 1,200 fishermen and crews) fish on the high-seas (appendix 1)}^ VIII. FISHERY AGREEMENTS On January 10, 1992, a protocol was signed in Riga to regulate the fisheries in the neighboring Russian and Estonian zones until a bilateral agreement on respective relations in fisheries could be signed. This protocol allowed Estonia to fish for cod and shrimp in the Russian 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (FEZ) in the Baltic and Barents Seas, while the Russians were allowed to fish Baltic herring and Baltic sprat in the Estonian FEZ. Russian officials, however, argue that they do not need the fishery in the Estonian EEZ in the Baltic and have little to gain from a bilateral fisheries agreement; so it is possible that the Russian Federation will let the protocol expire and no longer allow Estonia to fish in the Barents Sea." In May 1992, negotiations continued in Moscow on a draft 29 agreement.^" According to the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, an agreement had still not been concluded by October 1993. Reportedly, the two sides differ only on the issue of fishing in Lake Peipsi (a freshwater lake on the Estonian-Russian border). On July 14, 1992, Estonia initialed the draft of a bilateral fisheries agreement with the European Community (EC)." According to the U.S. Embassy in Tallinn, the agreement became effective after it was signed by the Estonian Foreign Minister, Trivimi Velliste, on July 16, 1993. At the end of January 1992, a quadripartite agreement was signed in Stockholm between Sweden and the fishery administrators of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The document defines the contested fishing grounds in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. An estimated 75 percent of fishery stocks in the area will be managed by the Baltic states.^*' Estonia also concluded a bilateral agreement with the Faroe Islands (with the consent of Denmark). The agreement provides Estonian fishermen with a 1993 catch quota of 6,000 t of blue whiting in the Faroese FEZ in exchange for giving Faroese fishermen a 1993 catch quota of 2,000 t for various species in the Estonian FEZ in the Baltic." IX. JOINT VENTURES International, Ltd. Estonia will own 49 percent of the shares of this J/V company whose central office will be located in New Delhi, India. OOKEAN will supply the new J/V with 2 ORLENOK-class trawlers and their crews, while the Indian Government will provide tax breaks, partially cover fuel costs for the fishing vessels, and give the firm a license to fish in Indian territorial waters. ^^ The two companies are currently negotiating the final contract. X. OUTLOOK Since independence, it has become clear that the size and capacity of Estonia's fishing fleet, as well as its fish-processing industry, exceed the availability of fishery resources. The loss of the traditional foreign fishing grounds where Estonia was allowed to fish as a constituent Republic of the Soviet Union, is the main reason for overcapacity. Almost a half of OOKEAN company's trawler fleet reportedly stood idle in April 1993 in Tallinn because of insufficient catch quotas, difficulties in accessing fishing grounds in foreign waters, and the high cost of purchasing diesel fuel.^' This is not a problem given to an easy solution as indicated by the fact that the company is attempting to further reduce its fleet by offering for sale 3 large stern factory trawlers. OOKEAN will need to establish more joint ventures like the one planned with an Indian company to improve the utilization of its fleet. In August 1993, the Estonian Government gave its permission to the state-owned OOKEAN company to establish an Estonian- Indian joint venture. Fortune Oceanic Products, Ltd., with the Indian firm. Fortune The most pressing problem is the availability of funds to purchase diesel fuel. The ever-increasing prices of fuel have rendered the operations of the high-seas fleet costlier. Whereas in the Soviet system the 30 cost of diesel fuel represented barely 15 percent of the operational costs of the fleet, under the free-market system, fuel now represents over 50 percent of the total costs (and in some cases as much as 70 percent) of the Estonian high- seas fishing fleet. ^° Despite serious problems, the outlook for the Estonian fishing industry is not entirely unfavorable. The new fishing managers promptly began reducing the oversized fleet and, during the past two years, sold for scrap, reflagged, or otherwise decommissioned 18 percent (41,000 tons) of the total high-seas gross registered tonnage (225,000 tons). They also seem to be adept at forming joint ventures and finding markets for their products. Helping to maintain the productivity and economic efficiency of the high-seas fleet is the fact that its vessels are of relatively recent vintage. The average age of the fleet, according to Lloyd's of London, was 14 years on December 31, 1992. The successful transfer of Government- owned assets of the fishery cooperatives (kolkhozes) to private companies is an additional factor boding favorably for the future of the Estonian fisheries. The largest company, OOKEAN, however, remains government- owned. Its assets are so large that private funds can not be found for its purchase. The discontinuation of government subsidies, however, has forced the company to increasingly operate as a private enterprise geared towards covering its costs and making a profit. If the Estonian fishing companies can continue exporting a large portion of their catch, thereby earning hard currencies, they will be able not only to secure fuel for continued distant-water operations, but may even find sufficient funds to modernize existing vessels and save for the eventual replacement of the old fishery vessels. This modern new fishing fleet, however, will have to be much smaller and more efficient than it is today. SOURCES Estonian Republic. List of the Ships of the Estonian Fishing Company OOKEAN. Tallinn, 1991 and 1993. FAO. Fishery Country Profile. Estonia. Rome, November 1992. National Technical Information Service. Estonia: An Economic Profile. Washington, D.C., July 1992. Nordic Investment Bank. Baltic study. September 1991. U.S. Embassy, Tallinn. Personal Communications. 6 August, 2, 3, 14, & 30 September, 1993. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993. 31 32 Photo 1.— The 635-gross ton Zhelezhnyakov-dass trawler is used by Estonian fishermen. Photo 2.— The Estonian fleet has 7 Orlenok-class stern factory trawlers with a gross tonnage of 1,900 GRT. 33 Photo 3. -The Estonian factory trawler, Johann Koler, a Mayakovskyi-dass trawler having 2, 400-GRTwas recently fishing in the southwestern Atlantic off the Falkland Islands and Argentina. 34 ENDNOTES 1. National Technical Information Service. Estonia: An Economic Profile. Washington, D.C., July 1992. 2. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Estonia. Rome, November 1992. The figure of 30,000 employees in the Estonian fishing industry is probably inflated and includes persons who worked in the former fishing kolkhozes, their families, and possibly individuals who weren't directly involved in fishing activities. A more realistic figure is probably about 15,000 employees. 3. Ibid; Estonian Fishing Agency, September, 1993. 4. Ibid. 5. Nordic Investment Bank. Baltic study. September 1991. 6. Ibid. 7. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Estonia, Rome, November 1992. 8. Seized by the victorious Red Army from Nazi Germany after the end of World War II, the Kruzenshtern was for years used by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries to train cadets from fishery schools and the merchant marine academy. It visited the United States several times. The most memorable of these visits was the one to Newport, Rhode Island, in 1976 for the jamboree of "tall ships" celebrating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The Kruzenshtern 's home port was Tallinn until December 1991 , when it left for the port of Baltiisk near Kaliningrad. It is now assigned to the Kaliningrad Fisheries College. 9. U.S. Embassy, Tallinn, Personal Communication, 2 September 1993. 10. U.S. Embassy, Tallinn, Personal Communication, 10 August 1993. 11. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Estonia, Rome, November 1992. This figure of 115 given by FAO is at slight variance with the 117 vessels of the Baltic fleet mentioned in the NIB's 1991 study, but the difference of 2 vessels is small enough to be insignificant. The ONI list (appendix 1) shows only 56 vessels of between 100 and 500 GRT, many of which are believed to be operating in the Baltic, especially the BALTIKA and KARELIA classes. The other Estonian vessels fishing in the Baltic probably have a gross tonnage below 100 tons, and were, therefore, not included in ONI's list. 12. Ibid. 13. Lauri Vaarja, "The Fishery Industry in Estonia." Published in The First East-West Fisheries Conference, 20-22 May 1993, St. Petersburg, Russia. (London, Agra Europe, 1993), p. 61. 14. U.S. Embassy, Tallinn, Personal Communication, 10 August 1993. 15. Radio Riga, 12 July 1991. 16. U.S. Embassy, Tallinn. Personal Communication, 2 September, 1993. 17. Ibid. 35 18. Estonia's independence was not officially recognized by Moscow until September 6, 1991 following the unsuccessful coup d'etat in Moscow in August 1991. 19. The name of the Russian company and the terms of its contract with MAJAK are not known. 20. In 1992, the KALMAR vessels harvested shrimp in the Russian 200-mile zone in an arrangement with SEVRYBA (Russia's Northern Fishery Administration) which, however, was not prolonged in 1993. 21. U.S. Embassy, Talliim, Personal Communication, 30 September 1993. 22. Ibid. The figures appear too high judging from the number of vessels these companies own. 23. Rybatskie Novosli (Moscow), No. 20, June 1993, p. 2. 24. Radio Tallinn, 7 May 1992. 25. Eurofish Report, 30 July 1992. 26. Radio Russia, 27 January 1993. 27. Faroese Statistical Bulletin, May 1993. 28. Baltic News Service, 29 August 1993. 29. Rybatskie Novosti (Moscow), No. 12, April 1993, p. 7. 30. U.S. Embassy, Tallinn, Personal Communication, 10 August 1993. 36 APPENDIX SECTION 37 38 Appendix 1. Estonia. Fishing and fishery support fleet, by vessel name, class, gross registered tonnage, and country and year of construction: 1993. Vessel name Class Country built Year GRT Agnes 100 USSR 1968 Amandus Adamson PROMETEY MOD A 3.977 GDR 1981 Anna Haava MAYAKOVSKIY 3.170 USSR 1969 Askele ZELENODOLSK 863 USSR 1966 August Kork TAVRIYA 3.555 USSR 1967 Bester MANEVRENNYY 163 USSR 1984 Carol in ALPINIST 720 USSR 1973 Derzhavinsk ZHELEZNYAKOV 648 USSR 1975 Dromia LEDA 249 Poland 1985 Eernka ORLENOK 1.513 GDR 1985 Eestirand II MOONZUND 7.765 GDR 1990 Ella TUNISELOV 1 280 USSR 1986 Elva PROMETEY MOD A 3.977 GDR 1982 Emma TUNTSELOV 1 265 USSR 1982 Fryderyk Chopin PIONERSK 14,368 Poland 1965 Georg Kask MOONZUND 7.765 GDR 1989 Georg Lurich MOONZUND 7,656 GDR 1989 Harju ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1977 Harku PROMETEY MOD A 3.147 GDR 1982 Hennaste MOONZUND 7,765 GDR 1990 Hnumaa ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1979 Hnurand ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1977 Hobulaid LUCHEGORSK 2,323 USSR 1970 Ihasalu ALPINIST 720 USSR 1983 Iklarand ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1979 Island TAVRIYA 3.555 USSR 1965 Jaan Koort MAYAKOVSKIY 2.351 USSR 1968 Jakob Hurt KRONSHTADT 2,327 USSR 1976 Jarve KIROVETS 190 USSR 1989 Johann Koler MAYAKOVSKIY 2,407 USSR 1968 Juhan Liiv MAYAKOVSKIY 3,170 USSR 1968 Juhan Smuul ATLANTIK 2,154 GDR 1972 Kadn ORLENOK 1,513 GDR 1986 Kagu KARELIYA 180 USSR 1975 Kalarand ZELENODOLSK 863 USSR 1968 Kaleste MAYAK. 676 USSR 1967 Kandova ORLENOK 1,895 GDR 1986 Karl Ristikivi LUCHEGORSK 2,323 USSR 1971 Kastor KREVETKA MOD A 149 USSR 1981 Kaunispea BALTIKA 108 USSR 1976 Keibu 117 USSR 1985 Khiiyesaare BALTIKA 108 USSR 1977 Khybesaare BALTIKA 108 USSR 1977 Kihelkonna 117 USSR 1985 Kiipsaar LAUKUVA 359 USSR 1990 Kirre KARELIYA 180 USSR 1975 Kondopoga MAYAK 600 USSR 1971 Kootsaare BALTIKA 108 USSR 1975 Kootsaare 117 USSR 1990 Kopli OKEAN 508 GDR 1959 Korgessaare 117 USSR 1985 Kose OKEAN 507 GDR 1959 Kreutzwald TAVRIYA 3,556 USSR 1968 Kristjan Raud MAYAKOVSKIY 3,170 USSR 1965 Kruzenshtern * SEDOV 3,545 FRG 1926 Kuba RR 151 258 GDR 1955 Kuressaare 117 USSR 1985 Kurtna PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 GDR 1983 Kyrgesaare BALTIKA 108 USSR 1977 Lahemaa LUCHEGORSK 2.833 USSR 1975 Langust MAYAK 699 USSR 1966 Lao BALTIKA 117 USSR 1984 Leemeti ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1986 Lehtma ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1987 Lembit Parn PROMETEY 3.017 GDR 1976 Lennuki RR 151 255 GDR 1953 Leppneeme 117 USSR 1985 Lindi KARELIYA 206 USSR 1968 Uu BALTIKA 117 - USSR 1984 Makhu OKEAN 507 GDR 1960 Malle MANEVRENNYY 164 USSR 1975 Mai us 1 100 USSR 1967 Maret ORLENOK 1.898 GDR 1984 Man ORLENOK 1,898 GDR 1984 Mane Under LUCHEGORSK 2,323 USSR 1974 Manna OMA 141 USSR 1959 39 Appendix 1. Estonia. Continued. Vessel name Class GRT Country built Year Mart Saar MAYAKOVSKIY 3.170 USSR 1969 Matsalu ALPINIST 720 USSR 1982 Mndurand ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1976 Moonsund MOONZUND 7.656 GDR 1986 MRTK 3250 BALTIKA 108 USSR 1977 Mustjarv PROMETEY 3.019 GDR 1974 Narvia 117 USSR 1991 Neeme 100 USSR 1967 Olemiste ATLANTIK 2.117 GDR 1970 Ontika ORLENOK 1.513 GDR 1986 Onssaare OKEAN 507 GDR 1960 Oskar Luts KRONSHTADT 2.327 USSR 1976 Panstu ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1980 Pal amuse ORLENOK 1.895 GDR 1986 Paljassaare ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1978 Parallaks KOSMOS 2.944 Poland 1967 Peipsi PROMETEY 3.019 GDR 1973 Pingvi in 100 USSR 1967 Pirita ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1988 Polva ORLENOK 1.513 GDR 1986 Pnngi 117 USSR 1989 Ramsi 117 USSR 1985 Rand 1 KASPIY 1.058 GDR 1970 Rand 2 KASPIY 1.058 GDR 1970 Rand 3 KASPIY 1.058 GDR 1970 Rand 4 KASPIY 1.058 GDR 1970 Raudoja 117 USSR 1985 Reigi 100 USSR 1968 Renu 117 USSR 1991 Ridala 117 USSR 1988 Rinksu KARELIYA 206 USSR 1968 Ristna 2 OKEAN 507 GDR 1950 Rotalia ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1979 Rudolf Sirge LUCHEGORSK 2.323 USSR 1973 Saadjarv PROMETEY 3.019 GDR 1974 Saaremaa ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1982 Salmistu 117 USSR 1977 Sangelaid LAUKUVA 359 USSR 1986 Sekstant PROMETEY MOD A 3.147 GDR 1981 Selenga BOLOGOYE 334 USSR 1958 Sindi ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 USSR 1985 Soela LUCHEGORSK 2.581 USSR 1973 Sorgu GIRULYAY 282 USSR 1981 Sorve ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1981 Stanislaw Momuszko PIONERSK 14.368 Poland 1965 Stralsund MOONZUND 7.765 GDR 1988 Tahkuranna ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1980 Tarrmsaare LUCHEGORSK 2.833 USSR 1975 Tamula PROMETEY 3.017 GDR 1975 Tibnku GIRULYAY 282 USSR 1983 Tipton LEDA 230 Poland 1985 Tiskre KRONSHTADT 2.327 USSR 1976 Toi 1 a LAUKUVA 359 USSR 1990 Tom BOLOGOYE 334 USSR 1958 Topu BALTIKA 108 USSR 1984 Tori OKEAN 507 GDR 1959 Treimam ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 USSR 1977 Udna 117 USSR 1988 Undva OKEAN 507 GDR 1960 Uzventis LAUKUVA 359 USSR 1987 Vagula PROMETEY 3.932 GDR 1975 Vahur ORLENOK 1.898 GDR 1984 Vai vara BALTIKA 117 USSR 1986 Valgejarv PROMETEY 3.017 GDR 1977 Vapper PROMETEY 3.019 GDR 1974 Vel 1 se BOLOGOYE 334 USSR 1961 Vergi RR 151 255 GDR 1952 Vergi BALTIKA 117 USSR 1984 Viru 117 USSR 1989 Virumaa MAYAKOVSKIY 2.690 USSR 1968 TOTAL = 146 fishing vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE - 235.565 GRT Source U S Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993 * In December 1991. the Kru/enshtcrn was moved to the port of Baltiisk. near Kaliningrad and IS now part of the Russian fleet. FRG - Federal Republic of Germany 40 Appendix 2. Estonia. OOKEAN company's fishing fleet reduction, by disposition: 1993. Vessel name Class GRT Year Built Built In New Owner VESSELS SOLD (7 vessels) Olemiste ATLANTIK II 2.117 1970 GDR * Johan Koler MAYAKOVSKII 2.407 1968 USSR * Jaan Koort MAYAKOVSKI I 2.351 1968 USSR * Mart Saar MAYAKOVSKI I 3.170 1969 USSR * Harju ZHLEZHNYAKOV 635 1977 USSR •k Sajaanid TAVRIYA 3.180E 1965 USSR * August Kork TAVRIYA 3,555 1967 USSR * TOTAL 17,415 VESSELS REFLAGGED (6 vessels) Ave N/A 104 1984 USSR Ukraine Botmjos Ilanka AMURSKII ZALIV 12.891 1970 France Lithuania Kabl 1 OKEAN 507 1960 GDR Panama** Saturn N/A 104 1985 USSR Lithuania Vetrasputns TAVRIYA 3.308 1962 USSR Latvia Kruzenshtern SEDOV 3,545 1926 Germany *** TOTAL 20.459 VESSELS DECOMMISSIONED (1 vessel) Korall MAYAKOVSKII 3.170 1964 VESSELS FOR SALE Juhan Liiv Marie Under Kirre Juhan Smuul TOTAL (4 vessels ■ MAYAKOVSKI I LUCHEGORSK KARELIA ATLANTIK II as of August 1993) 3.170 1968 2.323 1974 180 1975 2.154 1972 USSR USSR USSR USSR USSR 7.827 TOTAL = 18 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 48,871 GRT Sources: US, Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993 (for vessels reflagged) . Estonian Republic. List of the Ships of the Estonian Fishing Company OOKEAN. Tallinn. 1993: US Embassy. Tallinn, Personal Communication, August 10, 1993 (for vessels sold). E - Estimated N/A - Not available * These vessels were sold to Indian and Pakistani intermediaries and probably scrapped for iron ** Although now under Panamanian flag, this vessel reportedly still belongs to Estonia *** This vessel, a training "tall ship" for students from fishery colleges and technical schools, is reportedly operated by the Russian Federation t The former large stern factory trawler Korall is moored in the Tallinn port and serves as a training vessel for fishery school students. @ These vessels are idling in port while awaiting a buyer 41 Appendix 3. Estonia. OOKEAN Company's Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet, by type and class of vessels, nun±)er of vessels owned, and gross registered tonnage; 1993. Type/class of vessels Trawlers BATM HOONZUND RTMS PROMETEI RTMS ATLANTIK II BMRT MAYAKOVSKII BMRT PIONER LATVI I STM ORLENOK BMRT LUCHEGORSK BMRT KRONSHTADT MKTM LAUKUVA KARELIA ALPINIST TOTAL STM STM Support Vessels Motherships - PIONERSK Processing - TAVRIYA TOTAL 3 Gross tonnage Number Per vessel Total 6 7,704 46,224 13 3,017 39,221 1* 2,154 2,154 5** 3,170 19,020 4 2,666 10,664 7 1,898 13,286 3* 2,973 8,919 2 2,326 4,652 2 359 718 2* 187 374 2 710 1.400 47 146,632 2 13,600 27,200 1 3,556 3.556 GRAND TOTAL 50 30,756 177,388 Source: Estonian Republic. List of the Ships of the Estonian Fishing Company OOKEAN. Tallinn, 1993. * One of these vessels is sitting idle in port waiting to be sold. ** One of these vessels is a training vessel. BATM - Bolshoi avtonomnyi trauler morozilnyi (Large autonomous freezer trawler) RTMS - Rybolovnyi trauler morozilnyi sredni i (Medium freezer fishing trawler) Bolshoi morozilnyi rybolovnyi trauler (Large freezer fishing trawler) Sredni i trauler morozilnyi (Medium freezer trawler) Malyi krevetkolovnyi trauler morozi Inyi (Small fish-shrimp freezer trawler) BMRT STM - MKTM 42 Appendix 4. Estonia. Fishing vessels owned by privatized fishery kolkhozes and companies: 1993. Vessel name Class Gross tonn aqe Year built MAJAK JOINT STOCK COMPANY (located in Tallinn) Kondopoga MAYAK 600 1971 Kandova ORLENOK 1.895 1986 Polva ORLENOK 1.895 1986 Paistu ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1980 Paljassaare ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1978 Pinta ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1988 Parallaks KOSMOS 2.944 1967 Tiskre MAYAKOVSKII 2.325 1967 Onekotan* KOSMOS 2,934 1967 Total 14.919 DAGOMAR STOCK COMPANY (Hiiumaa) Hi lurand** ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1977 Leetmeti ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1986 Lehtma ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1987 Undva* OKEAN 507 1960 Hiiumaa ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1979 Total 3.607 MOONSUND STOCK COMPANY (Saaremaa) Kopli*** OKEAN 508 1958 Saaremaa ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1982 Sindi ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1985 Sorve ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 1981 Total 2.693 VAAL LEASING COMPANY (Parnu) Sangelaid LAUKUVA 359 1986 Uzventis LAUKUVA 359 1987 Iklarand ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 1979 Tahkuranna ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 1980 Treimani ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 1977 Total 2.763 KALMAR (Tall inn) Retail a N/A N/A N/A Serve ZHELEZNYAKOV 635 1981 MARVEL (Tallinn) N/A N/A N/A N/A GRAND TOTAL = 25 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 22,939 GRT Sources; U.S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993: US Embassy. Tallinn. 6 August and 2 September 1993. * To be eventually sold for scrap iron. ** Sold to a Russian fishing company in Murmansk *** Sold to a United Kingdom company for scrap in 1993. N/A - Not available 43 Appendix 5. Estonia. Fishing and fishery support vessels by class, age, length, and production capacity; 1991. Vessel Year(s) Built Production Capacit y/d ay_ by class built in Age Length Frozen F i shmea I Canned (years) (meters) (tons) (metric tons) (1 .000 cans*) Fishing Vessels MOONZUND 1985-90 Stralsund 3-8 120.4 63 10 26 PROMETEI 1973-83 Stralsund 10-20 101.8 63 10 - ATLANTIK 11 1970 Stralsund 23 82.0 50 6 - MAYAKOVSKl 1 1968-69 Stralsund 24-25 84.7 30 2 - PIONER LATVII 1970-73 Nikolaev 1 20-23 83.9 45 6 - LUCHEGORSK 1973-75 Klaipeda 18-20 83.6 30 12 - KRONSHTADT 1976 Nikolaev 1 17 83.8 40 5 - ORLENOK 1984-6 Stralsund 17-19 62.2 30 2 - LAUKUVA** 1990 Petrozavodsk 3 35.7 8 - - KARELIA 1975 Petrozavodsk 18 31.6 - - - ALPINIST 1982-83 Yaroslavl' 19-20 53.7 - - - Fishery Support Vessels PIONERSK 1965 Gdansk 28 164.0 100 18 - TAVRIYA 1965-67 Nikolaev 11 26-28 99.4 50 " " Source: Estonian Republic. List of the Ships of the Estonian Fishing Company OOKEAN. Tallinn, 1991. * Standard cans of 250 grams each. ** Fish-shrimp freezer trawler. Shipyards: Klaipeda - Baltiya Shipyard Stralsund - Volkswerft (People's Shipyards) Nikolaev 1 - Chernomorski i Sudostroitel 'ni i Zavod (Black Sea Shipbuilding Plant) Nikolaev 11 - Imeni 61 Kommunara Sudostroitel 'ni i Zavod (61 Kommunar Shipbuilding Plant) Petrozavodsk - Avangard Shipyard Appendix 6. Estonia. Inland, coastal, and high-seas fisheries catch; 1975, 1980, and 1985-1992. Area Year 1988 1989 1990 1991 1975 1980 1985 1986 1987 1992 L 000 Metric tons Inland 3.1 4.7 3.2 5.9 4.4 4.2 4.0 2.4 2.0 3.2 Coastal 87.7 77.3 69.7 63.4 58.1 59.5 60.0 59.3 54.0 37.2 High -seas OOKEAN Co. Other 302.8 47.1 287.1 58.2 275.2 62.1 294.5 55.6 273.9 74.3 298.8 58.7 276.4 58.1 255.7 49.7 230.4 28.7 90.9 19.2 Subtotal 349.9 345.3 337.3 350.1 348.2 357.5 334.5 305.4 259.1 110.1 Total 440.8 427.3 410.2 419.4 410.7 421.2 398.5 367.1 315.1 150.5 Source: Estonian Fishing Agency, September, 1993. Note: The 1991 and 1992 catch might be higher than the catch shown in this table. Landings statistics are unreliable and some catch landed in smaller Estonian reports may not have been recorded. Appendix 7. Estonia. Employment in privatized former collective fishery cooperatives (kolkhozes) and in private companies; September 1993. High-seas Company Fishermen Other Total Cooperatives DAGOMAR 210 229 439 MOONSUNO N/A N/A N/A MAJAK 500(E) N/A 1, 000(E) VAAL N/A N/A N/A Private Companies KALMAR 24 N/A N/A MARVEL N/A N/A N/A TOTAL 1, 200(E) N/A 3, 000(E) Source: Economic Section, U.S. Embassy, Tallin, Personal Communication, September, 1993. N/A - Not available E - Estimated 44 2.3 LATVIA Latvia has recently become independent after being part of the Soviet Union for almost five decades. Latvia's fishing industry, which was part of the centrally planned economy, directed by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries in Moscow, had to readjust quickly to the new free- market demands. Latvia also had to secure arrangements for access to fishing grounds in foreign 200-mile zones. Most importantly, it can no longer count on cheap, subsidized diesel oil, but has to purchase it with foreign currencies. The difficult transition from a command to a free-market economy has been exacerbated by the need to reorganize the administrative staff following the dissolution of the Soviet Western Fisheries Administration in Riga. Among the most important factors for the future profitability of the Latvian fishing industry is the privatization program which its Government has begun. CONTENTS I. Background 45 II. Fishing Fleet 46 A. 1991 46 B. 1992 49 C. 1993 49 III. High-seas Fleet Dispersal 50 IV. Fishery Support Fleet 53 V. Fleet Reduction 53 VI. Fishing Grounds 53 VII. Catch and Production 54 VIII. Fishing Companies 54 IX. Bilaterals and Joint Ventures 55 X. Outlook 56 Sources 56 Endnotes 57 Appendices 59 has a population of 2.7 million people. Its I. BACKGROUND land area encompasses 64,600 square kilometers, while its coastline extends for 531 Latvia, one of the three Baltic kilometers. Over one third of the population countries which became independent in 1991, lives in the capital, Riga, which has 915,000 inhabitants. 45 A leading traditional sector in the Latvian economy, the fishing industry used to employ 48,000 persons, according to the Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs'. The Latvian fishing industry is based mostly in the fishing port of Riga. The other port, extensively used by the fishing industry, is located at Liepaja. The fishing industry contributed almost 500 million rubles to the Latvian economy in 1990. The value of fishery exports amounted to 359 million rubles, which represented 75 percent of the total volume of fisheries output.^ II. FISHING FLEET The Latvian fishing fleet consisted of 35 1 fishing and fishery support vessels as the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991. The three Baltic Soviet republics each had their own fishing fleet. Latvia's fleet was by far the largest, comprising almost 50 percent of the 762 vessels based in the ports of the Baltic republics.^ The high-seas fleet, owned by the Government, is fishing primarily in the Atlantic, both northern and southern. The principal fishing grounds are off Canada, Mauritania, Nigeria, the Faroe Islands and Russia. The Government, however, is exploring the possibility of concluding additional agreements with other coastal countries. The main species landed by the high-seas fleet are mackerel, horse mackerel, squid, and redfish. The Latvian high-seas fishing fleet consists of 3 different types of vessels: distant-water trawlers, fish- processors, and refrigerated transports. Latvia also has a coastal fleet of small tonnage vessels, privately owned by fishermen's cooperatives. Their owners fish the Baltic Sea, both in the Latvian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), and in the EEZs of other Baltic countries with whom Latvia has concluded bilateral fishery agreements. Sprat and cod are the principal species landed from Baltic waters. A. 1991 The Latvian fleet, operating for 40 years under the system of the Soviet expeditionary fishing fleets, organized its own fishing expeditions consisting of high-seas trawlers supported by motherships, fish- processors, tankers, water supply vessels, and other support craft. Pholo I.— A 14.00-GRT processsing baseship, built in Russia supplies Latvian high-seas fishermen. This fleet was fishing under the overall command of the Western Fisheries Administration (ZAPRYBA). A ZAPRYBA fleet commander, usually located aboard one of the large motherships, was responsible for day-to-day operations and for the transfer of fish to motherships for processing, or to refrigerated transports for delivery to home ports. 46 2 .^^ "w /K^ "^s tf) y^ \ i 3- ■ V> /" s (/) ■ < •* «« ^ .'." DC V— ^^^^ C > V . ■ 3' /\ / V^'~*>i\ ^^M^ ' ^ ■"•■ .. »r-M / ^ ^*4 J «J ^> iX^ T--' ■ 1. - # Vil ^ * '^ r ''■1 ■■' > 0) 03 ~ t r ( ^-. c Js \ /» h ro f ) (0 0>*^'^ .1 n Q /' h ^ X f • ■■i / c y > J w 0 / +- y -itW .4 ^ (U j f t^) ■ p -J ) t Uj \ < 'oc \ 03 ->f to > ) C .si f «} ■ S'-'^ 5 9i I A" •"5 ) 3 3 ■■r- ; C ^ ? t "^ ? y ^ 'c .■^ 1 1 r 1 i CO r i • \ 3 ! : • \ z' - i * s 'vj a E. \ - 1 fi Z 1 t '■T*: ■^ -ra 1 ^ .■ ■z ^ i i — *^ ,3^ ^ 9- ^^ f ■ OC ft ? II f CD o^ > 0} 1 ) 11 r / If! / .2 o ^ o « 2 ~ p T 'n — o .. -a i^. •- n c .. ai 3 01 - o c — o. t/5 'r- il c a o o Q <" -a o 2 c « ■-- c 0* O « O W O OH -iUZ t^ 0^ 3 a Ro §§ O — ?| e <^i ^ ■— "O - I-, d -^ _ DC « ^ ■ ill ^ O k. ._ W Q 0. o ca Q ^ s s °3 c "^ .2 •*' i. c -J '^ = 5 .2 o g 5o "7^ •— '^' = o — a: u U « 0/ '>! ! o -g > ■ C C oT) l-S^ < ■ c c -^ ; - ° c 1 .5 -p i/i ■ n -^ u M-J i- '- u u I 1=^ o o o £ « a E « ^ ^ g iJ — ^ "^ "- o -a ir, ^ o c -^' c ?f •= o- 4> a u .3i -yi D. -O ^ in > o 5 < ^ o 0^ 00 ^ * E 5 t; -^ M CsC ■a a: c .,' = o b C/1 i 3 O r-i bO OS r^ (J: 'c. < o o o o o o o T3 on x> 3 >- O ■s So :5 E -2 >-J oo o. "^2i i ■§.£ ° = = "2 2 o § -2 ^ S a K -o c c o c -5 a aO This system was in force in 1991 when the Latvian Republic became independent and ceased to be under the operational command of ZAPRYBA. At this time, the Latvian fishing fleet appeared to be poorly maintained and included many obsolete vessels. The new Latvian Government, therefore, commissioned the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) to review its industries, including the fisheries sector. The NIB's"* report pointed out that the fishing fleet was in poor condition when compared to the average standards of Western fishing nations. The Bank estimated that nearly one half of the fishing vessels deployed in the Baltic Sea and on the high-seas was obolete. The processing fleet was in even worse condition; only about a third of the vessels was considered worthwhile to upgrade and modernize. The NIB, however, also estimated that some upgrading could be done with relatively modest investments which were estimated as follows: The Baltic Fleet: The Baltic Fleet could be modernized at about $40,000 per vessel, and the catch level of this restructured fleet maintained with about half of the current number of vessels. The NIB estimated that the total investment needed was $6 million. The High-seas Fleet: The modernization of the high-seas fleet would require an estimated $15 million, mostly for modern fish-finding and navigational equipment. The Distant-water Support Fleet: The upgrading of the distant-water processing fleet and support vessels, however, would be more costly, and was estimated at $100 million. To improve the situation, the Latvian Government arranged for several Western groups to discuss vessel modernization projects with local managers. Despite several attempts at joint ventures and various feasibility studies, no actual investment projects have been carried out as far as is known. The NIB report listed the 1991 composition of the fleet as: Trawler fleet-91 vessels. Fish- processing FIeet-31 vessels. Transport Fleet- 21 vessels, Baltic Fleet-208 vessels. Total fleet = 351 vessels. B. 1992 Most of the distant-water fishing fleet was idled in Baltic ports during 1992 because of a lack of fuel and because the traditional grounds of the Latvian fishing fleet were no longer accessible. The fleet's operations were especially hard hit after the newly- independent Namibia declared a moratorium on foreign fishing in its 200-mile zone. African waters were in fact the most important fishing area for the Latvian distant- water fleet. The closure of the West Saharan fishing grounds (following Morocco's annexation of that territory) was especially painful as up to one-half of the Latvian high- seas fleet fished there. The initial shock, however, was dissipated somewhat towards the end of 1992 when the activities of the newly-organized Ministry of Maritime Affairs, and the increased diplomatic efforts of the new Latvian Government, secured renewed access to several traditional Atlantic grounds. C. 1993 At the beginning of 1993, the Latvian fishing fleet numbered 277 vessels. Of this 49 total, 79 were high-seas vessels, while 198 coastal vessels fished only in the adjacent Baltic Sea, according to the Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs/ In late July 1993, however, the U.S. Navy listed only 223 vessels, with a total gross registered tonnage (GRT) of over 510,000 tons, as being in the Latvian fishing fleet registry (table 1). Table 1. Latvia. Fishing fleet, by selected vessel capacity. 1993. Capacity Number GRT Average GRT Under 500 GRT Above 500 GRT Total 71 152 223 9,884 139 501,935 3.302 511.819 2.295 Source: U.S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 27 July 1993. Pholo 2. -Latvian fishermen operate 8 large autonomous stem factory trawlers. companies, or their vessels, privatization drive. under the current The 152 vessels above 500 GRT listed in table 1 are not all fishing vessels; 7 of them are specialized fishery vessels and 21 are large fishery support vessels. It is also likely that some over 500-GRT-vessels are operating in the Baltic Sea. (For vessel names, class, GRT, country and year of construction, see appendices 1 and 2.) UI. HIGH-SEAS FLEET DISPERSAL By June 1993, the Latvians had deployed 31 of their high-seas fishing ves.sels, mostly in the Atlantic. These trawlers are based in the Latvian ports of Riga and Liepaja. They are owned by the Riga Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet under the Director General Olgerts MAURINS, and by the Liepaja High-seas Fishing Fleet under the Director General, Dainis ENGELIS. Both companies are owned by the Latvian Government as no takers were found for the The high-seas fleet of Latvia was deployed in the summer of 1993 in the following fishing grounds and off the enumerated countries: Northwest Atlantic: The largest Latvian fleet (13 vessels) was fishing for ocean perch in the international waters of the Northwest Atlantic, beyond the Canadian 200-mile FEZ. The fishing in this area is governed by the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO), which allocates the catch quotas to various countries. During NAFO's September 1992 Fourteenth Annual Meeting in Dartmouth (Canada), the quotas of the former Soviet Union (FSU) were allocated as a block quota to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia as the four countries were unable to agree among themselves as to the percentage of distribution. The block quota scheme was to be fished as an "Olympic" fishery under the NAFO rules for fishing "others" quotas. Russia objected to this scheme and later filed 50 its own unilateral quotas equal to 95 percent of the FSU quotas in NAFO. Russia, as the successor state to the Soviet Union, received an allocation of 37,300 metric tons (t) of various species, mostly redfish (27,000 tons). In private negotiations, following the conclusion of the Annual Meeting, Russia transferred 12,000 t of its 1993 ocean perch (redfish) quota to Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania, with each country receiving 4,000 tons. A mediation effort, led by Canada and the Faroe Islands, was conducted in an attempt to resolve the FSU quota dispute in NAFO before the 1993 Annual Metting, but it was unsuccessful. At the 1993 NAFO Meeting, due to lack of resolution of this problem by the four contracting parties, the same block quota system was adopted for Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Russia for 1994, with quotas totaling approximately 31,000 tons. Its division among the Baltic countries has not been negotiated as of this writing. Mauritania: The second largest Latvian fleet (9 vessels) is fishing for sardinella in the 200- mile zone of Mauritania. The Riga Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet and a Mauritanian company have concluded a commercial joint venture under which Latvian stern factory trawlers (ATLANTIK class) deliver their catch to Mauritanian ports for processing by local plants. The Latvian crews are replaced every 6 months by plane; they receive a fixed salary and a percentage of the value of the catch sold. The Latvians are now trying to effect crew replacements by ship rather than by plane to reduce expenses. Most of these exchanges will be carried out through ports in the Canary Islands. The Latvian state companies have deployed, or would like to deploy, their trawlers off several other countries. Among these are the following: Canada: Latvia occasionally deploys a few fishing vessels in Canadian waters. The Latvian and Canadian Governments concluded a Memorandum of Understanding authorizing commercial arrangements in the Canadian EEZ. However, the Canadians reportedly demanded $350 per day per vessel for observer fees and $50-60 per ton of silver hake as poundage fees. This would have consumed 34 percent of the total value of the catch. The Canadians also demanded that 10 percent of the Latvian catch of silver hake be delivered to Canadian shore-processing plants. The Latvians concluded that under such conditions it would not be profitable to fish in the Canadian EEZ. Faroe Islands: Six Latvian stern trawlers have been fishing a catch quota of 12,000 t of blue whiting allocated by Denmark. The catch is headed and gutted and then exported, mostly to the countries of the former Soviet Union. The 1993 catch was reportedly good, and the quota was almost fished out by June 1993. When that happens, the Latvian fleet is supposed to move to nearby international waters and continue fishing for blue whiting. Photo 3.—Lania lias 5 Tavriya-class refrigerated transports (3.500-GRT) built in Russia in the 1960s. 51 Nigeria: Two Latvian trawlers, belonging to a cooperative (former kolkhoz) fleet, are fishing in a joint venture with a Nigerian company. Details are not available. Russia: The Riga Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet deployed 2 ATLANTIK-III class vessels in the Russian EEZ off Kamchatka in 1993. The Latvians concluded a joint venture agreement with a Kamchatka company and are leasing their vessels to that company which reportedly pays for the catch delivered. The Latvian fishermen operated in the Russian Pacific 200-mile zone previously, while the country was still part of the Soviet Union. Full details on this fishery are lacking but, in July 1991, the Latvian Ministry of Fisheries reported that 6 Latvian stern factory trawlers had been idling in the Pacific for more than 2 weeks because of a diesel fuel shortage.*" No information is available on this fishery in 1992, but it appears that most of the fleet returned to Latvia except for the two vessels that had a joint venture with a Russian company. The Latvian companies are currently experiencing financial difficulties that have resulted in several vessels being seized in two countries. Argentina/Uruguay: Six Latvian stern factory trawlers are being held in the ports of Buenos Aires and Montevideo (3 trawlers in each) for nonpayment of various expenses incurred while fishing off Chile, Argentina, and Peru (with 2 vessels in each country) in 1990-91. The Latvian crews were finally flown back to Riga in April 1993; the trawlers will probably be sold at a public auction to the highest bidder. Their price will most likely be low because of their age. The names of these 6 trawlers are not available. United States: Two Latvian trawlers (Durbe and Muravjova), belonging to the Liepaja High-seas Fishing Fleet, are being held by the Trinity Shipyard in Beaumont, Texas. Trinity accepted the vessels in 1992 for modernization through a Seattle law firm, but was unable to obtain payments for the work completed. The case is in court. The remaining Latvian high-seas vessels, representing almost one-half of the distant-water fleet, are idle in Latvian ports, either for lack of diesel fuel or because the catch allocations by foreign countries are insufficient to support their operations. The upkeep of the idled high-seas vessels is an expensive proposition and the Latvian Government would like to dispose of them as soon as possible, either by selling them off, or by scrapping them. Most of these vessels are aged, and even if catch allocations m foreign fishing zones became available, it is not likely that these vessels would be able to operate profitably. Most Soviet vessels were not built with diesel fuel efficiency as a high priority because diesel oil was dirt cheap (when compared to Western prices). Diesel fuel prices have increased several times since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Since Latvia currently receives its fuel from Russia, which is increasing its price for diesel fuel to the world market level, the Latvians expect fuel costs to continue rising. The Latvian Government faces other problems associated with the fisheries sector. The fishing companies continue to pay minimum wages to the fishing crews and officers of the idled high-seas vessels. This represents a heavy burden on the already cash-strapped companies which are actively trying to dispose of the non-operational vessels. 52 rV. FISHERY SUPPORT FLEET The Latvian fishery support fleet is mostly operated by the Riga Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet company. In 1991, it consisted of 9 baseships and processing vessels, 3 fishery refrigerated transports, and 2 exploratory research vessels for a total of 14 vessels (appendix 3).^ The Latvian Government has been reducing this fleet and, by 1993, it had only 10 vessels. Some high-seas fishery support vessels are most likely also based at Liepaja. The exact number is not known, but various sources estimate it at 4 large (over 4,000 GRT) vessels. They are probably I mothership and 3 refrigerated transports. Their names are not available. The Lloyds' of London lists in its latest December 1992 statistics only 9 fishery support vessels, with a total gross tonnage of 41,100 GRT as being in the Latvian registry. These statistics probably show the reduction of 3 fishery support vessels discussed in the footnotes of appendix 3 and listed in appendix five. Their total tonnage of 34,680 GRT added to the 41,100 GRT comes close to the gross tonnage reported by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (76,900 GRT).- V. FLEET REDUCTION According to the U.S. Navy, during the past two years Latvia reduced the size of its fishing fleet by 6 vessels and a total of 15,330 gross tons (appendix 5). Of this total, 4 vessels were reflagged to other countries: a small fishing vessel (Darya Zar) was sold to Iran; a SIBIR-class processing vessel (Plutonas) is now operated by the Lithuanian fishing fleet; the fisheries training vessel, Sedov, and a medium trawler were turned over to the Russian Federation*. In addition, two large stern factory trawlers of the MAYAKOVSKII class were decommissioned, but it is not known whether they were scrapped for iron or sold abroad. It is likely, in light of the decrease in the number of vessels between 1991 and 1993, reported by various sources, that additional Latvian vessels have been decommissioned. Full information on this process, however, is not available. VI. FISHING GROUNDS The Latvian fleet is widely dispersed, primarily on Atlantic grounds. The country's high-seas fishing fleets now operate only in the northern and southern Atlantic; the distant-water fisheries in Antarctica and in the southeastern Pacific have been abandoned because the increasing cost of fuel and the length of the trips made fishing there unprofitable. A small fishery, however, is maintained in the Northwest Pacific and is based in Kamchatka ports. The distant waters of the North and South Atlantic are fished by large stern factory trawlers, supported by processing vessels and refrigerated transports. Northwest Atlantic: This fishery, regulated by NAFO, has been reduced during the past few years with the Americanization and Canadianization of the fishing grounds by both countries. Latvian fishermen can operate now only in international waters beyond the 200-mile Canadian FEZ where they catch Atlantic ocean perch under a NAFO quota. 53 Northeast Atlantic: Regulated by the International Commission for the Northeast Atlantic Fisheries (ICNEAF), these grounds became a prime fishery for the Latvian fleet until the European Community (EC) extended its jurisdiction to 200 miles in 1977, excluding all of the former Soviet vessels from its EEZ. No Soviet fishing was allowed in the EC zone for the past 16 years. After Latvia became independent, however, neighboring Denmark extended not only considerable aid to Latvian fishermen, but also allowed them in 1993 to fish off the Faroe Islands for blue whiting. The catch is processed and exported to the countries of the former Soviet Union. The Latvians also fish in the international waters of the northeastern Atlantic. Central East Atlantic: The fishery off the West African coast was, in recent decades, the most important Latvian fishing ground. Operations centered on the waters off the disputed Western Sahara, off Mauritania (under a bilateral agreement with the former Soviet Union which also benefitted Latvia), and off Namibia (the former UN Trust Territory of Southwest Africa). Namibia's independence and Morocco's annexation of Western Sahara spelled the end of these operations. Southwestern Atlantic: The Latvians fish for squid beyond the conservation zone (150 miles) of the Falkland Islands, which is administered by the United Kingdom. The catch is sold on the grounds to Japanese refrigerated transports at $1,200-1,400 per metric ton for frozen, cleaned squid tubes. Northwest Pacific: Latvian fishermen catch Alaska pollock in Russian waters for delivery to Kamchatka processing plants. Only two large stern factory trawlers, on lease to a Kamchatka joint venture company, are currently deployed in this fishery. VII. CATCH AND PRODUCTION Latvian fishermen traditionally contributed about 5 percent of the former Soviet Union's fishery landings, or from 500,000-550,000 metric tons (t). The peak was reached in 1987 when Latvian fleets brought in 571,000 t of fish and shellfish (appendix 6). In 1991, Latvian fishery landings amounted to 366,000 tons. Of this total, 310,000 t was harvested on the high-seas and in the economic zones of various other countries, while 56,000 t was caught in the Baltic Sea. Data for 1992 are not available, but the catch is estimated to have been about 150,000 tons. The estimated fishery landings for 1993 are approximately 200,000 tons. In 1991, a total of 211,000 t of processed seafood, 203 million standard cans and 24,000 t of fishmeal was produced. Latvian fish hatcheries release annually over 7 million fish fingerlings, including 700,000 Atlantic salmon and trout smolts; these are released in the Baltic Sea. The Latvian Republic has 5 fish- processing plants, 8 fish farms, and a fisheries ship-repair yard as well as a plant that manufactures fish-processing equipment. VIII. FISHING COMPANIES The Latvian fishing companies are divided into private and state-owned firms. The private sector consists mainly of 1 1 fishing cooperatives; these are multipurpose 54 companies, independently conducting their economic activities. They own about 18 high-seas fishing vessels which operate in the Atlantic Ocean; the cooperatives also own the entire Latvian fleet fishing in the Baltic Sea. in addition, the cooperatives own fish- processing plants, harbors, a fishery support fleet, warehouses, and freezing plants. Some also engage in ship repair, the building of recreational boats, net making, fish farming, growing fur animals, and floriculture. In 1992, they were transformed into share-holding and joint-stock companies, and each member obtained a part of the common property. In the future, the members' income will depend on the number of shares in the stock-holding company. The share-holding company LOMS, which manufactures nets and ropes, is another company belonging to the private sector; employees own all of its shares. The number of private companies and fishermen who catch small quantities of fish in the Baltic with their own vessels is growing. Several joint ventures with French, Danish, Belgian and U.S. companies have also been registered in Latvia. The state-owned fleet in Latvia is managed by two large organizations whose vessels fish primarily in the Atlantic Ocean. Their fleet is composed of an estimated 66 high-seas fishing vessels 55 to 120 meters long with engines having 1,300 to 7,000 horsepower (appendices 3 and 4). They can carry out their operations in any part of the world's oceans and catch any species of fish. This fleet processes and delivers frozen, filleted and canned fish, as well as fish meal and fish oil. Fishery products are shipped from the fishing grounds by cargo carriers and refrigerated transports of the Latvian transport fleet. IX. BILATERALS & JOINT VENTURES Following the unsuccessful coup d'etat in Moscow in August 1991, Latvia gained its independence and thus entered the world's fishery management systems. The Parliament decided that Latvia should join the relevant international fishery conventions after the country's independence was recognized by the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. The Republic has become a contracting party to the Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission, International Commission for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES), North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO) and other international fishery bodies. Latvia also signed bilateral fishery agreements with Russia, Denmark and the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Finland, Canada, the European Community, and the United States of America. The possibility of signing similar agreements with additional countries is being discussed. Faroe Islands: The bilateral fisheries agreement with the Faroe Islands (with the consent of Denmark) provides Latvian fishermen with a 1993 catch quota of 12,000 t of blue whiting in the Faroese EEZ. In exchange, the Faroese fishermen will receive a 1993 catch quota of 4,600 t of various species in the Latvian EEZ in the Baltic.'" Sweden: At the end of January 1992, a quadripartite agreement was signed between Sweden and the fishery administrators of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in Stockholm. The document defines the contested fishing grounds in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. An estimated 75 percent of fishery stocks in the area will be managed by the Baltic states." 55 Latvia is open to cooperation and joint ventures with foreign partners. It can offer for sale a wide range of fish and fishery products. Good possibilities exist for repairing fishing vessels in Latvian shipyards at low cost; high-quality servicing and maintenance of foreign vessels in Latvian ports is another possibility. Latvia is inviting foreign private companies interested in fisheries cooperation to establish contacts and joint ventures, and to make capital investments. The main areas of potential common interest are as follows: joint fishing in foreign exclusive economic zones, marketing of fish and fishery products in industrially developed countries, fishing fleet modernization, modernization of fish-processing plants, joint construction of low-tonnage fishing vessels, manufacturing of fishing nets, and development of salmon and trout farming, as well as the culture of other fish species. X. OUTLOOK Latvian fisheries are an important sector in the Latvian economy. The industry is endowed with satisfactory ports and adjacent processing facilities which were expanded rapidly from the 1950s to the 1970s. The delivery of fishing vessels from Soviet, Polish, and East German shipyards was instrumental in the expansion of Latvian fisheries throughout the world. This fleet, however, was part of Soviet fishery expeditions which were supported by a centralized structure in Moscow. The inexpensive fuel, transportation from fishing grounds back to domestic markets, and regular air exchanges of the crews, made such far-flung operations possible, if not profitable. (Under the Soviet system, any deficits were absorbed by the State.) Following Latvia's independence from the USSR in September 1991 , however, the situation began to change. Latvia was now a foreign country and Soviet, later Russian, oil was sold to it at world prices, if it was available at all. The large USSR-wide marketing system disappeared. Ukraine and the Russian Federation now import Latvian fishery products as they would from any other foreign country. The worst problem is probably the loss of access to fishing grounds which were previously available under bilateral fishery agreements with many coastal countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa. Another problem is the lack of diesel fuel. The resulting inability to sail for distant-water fishing grounds has forced almost half of the high-seas fleet to remain idle in Latvian ports. SOURCES FAO. Fishery Country Profile. Latvia. Rome, April 1992. Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs. "Latvian Fisheries." Riga, December 1992. Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Personal Communications, 1993. Lloyd's Registry of Shipping. Fleet Statistics as of 31 December 1992. London, 1993. National Technical Information Service. Lat\'ia: An Economic Profile. Washington, D.C., August 1992. Nordic Investment Bank. Baltic study. September 1991. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence. 56 ENDNOTES 1. This figure probably included the families of the fishermen since, in December 1992, the Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs estimated the 1989 employment in the fisheries sector at 30,000 persons. By 1993, this number had decreased to 25,200 persons. (See appendix 6 for details.) 2. FAO. Fishery Country Profile. Latvia. Rome, 1992. 3. Nordic Investment Bank, Baltic study, September 1991. 4. The main source for the 1991 section is the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) study. 5. The figure of 79 high-seas fishing vessels, obtained from an unpublished report of the Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, may not be the total number of such vessels. FAO gives the total number of Latvian high- seas vessels as 89 trawlers in 1991. For the same year, the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) counted 91 units in the high-seas trawler fleet. 6. Radio Riga, 12 July 1991. 7. Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Personal Communication, December 1992. 8. The total number of fishery support vessels in the Latvian fleet is uncertain. This is, in part, because various sources mention them under different classifications. The NIB lists 31 fish-processing vessels and 21 refrigerated transports. FAO, on the other hand, lists 20 "cargo vessels" and 30 fish-processing units. An updated FAO profile of Latvian fisheries (using new statistics supplied by the Latvian Sea Fisheries Research Institute) lists 16 fishery cargo and 23 fish-processing vessels. In July 1993, the U.S. Navy listed 14 refrigerated fish transports and 2 general cargo fish transports which corresponds with the figure given by the Latvian Sea Fisheries Research Institute for "fishery cargo" vessels. The 9 vessels listed by Lloyd's as of December 31, 1992, reflect additional reductions of these vessels. A complete and reliable picture, however, can only be obtained from the Latvian Ministry of Transportation. Unfortunately, requests for clarification were unanswered. 9. The Sedov (3,709 GRT) was built in 1921 in Germany. It was seized by the Soviet Armed Forces in 1945, and converted into a training ship for fisheries and merchant marine cadets. 10. Faroese Statistical Bulletin, May 1993. 11. Radio Russia, 27 January 1993. 57 58 APPENDIX SECTION 59 60 Appendix 1, Latvia. Fishing and fishery support fleet, by vessel name, class, gross tonnage, and country and year of construction: 1993 Vessel name Class "GRT Country bui It Year USSR 1976 GDR 1986 USSR 1964 USSR 1961 Germany 1966 GDR 1959 Poland 1967 USSR 1983 USSR 1984 USSR 1984 USSR 1991 USSR 1990 Bulgaria 1971 USSR 1986 USSR 1965 GDR 1989 USSR 1989 GDR 1986 Russia 1991 USSR 1975 USSR 1981 USSR 1987 GDR 1988 USSR 1984 USSR 1972 USSR 1987 USSR 1986 GDR 1970 USSR 1988 Sweden 1970 USSR 1984 USSR 1970 USSR 1985 USSR 1984 USSR 1985 USSR 1984 GDR 1959 USSR 1987 USSR 1974 USSR 1985 USSR 1988 USSR 1989 USSR 1987 GDR 1959 GDR 1981 USSR 1990 USSR 1990 GDR 1977 GDR 1974 Bulgaria 1971 Sweden 1969 GDR 1953 USSR 1988 USSR 1967 USSR 1972 USSR 1973 USSR 1967 USSR 1989 GDR 1982 GDR 1978 GDR 1974 USSR 1984 USSR 1975 GDR 1975 USSR 1983 USSR 1974 USSR 1972 USSR 1983 GDR 1974 GDR 1960 USSR 1961 USSR 1990 GDR 1981 USSR 1989 USSR 1961 Abava Abruka Afanasijs Nikitins Anga Aizkraukle Alants Aleksey Pozdnyakov Alfa Altairs Amula Arats Anes Annas Arena Aspazija Atmoda Auda Augusts Berzins Aun Aynazhi Balakhna Baltezers Baltijas Gels Baltijas Petnieks BaltTka Barta I Bartava Bazalt Bella Bennga Sal a Beta Betel gen ze Biksti Blome Bomvars Bravo Breksis Bnedis Bnviba Broceni Bukaisi Burtmeki Busmeki Bute Cecerska Daugava Daugavgnva Diana Dimants Djuni Doles Sal a Druzhba Durbe I Dzintarjura Dzmtarkrasts Dzintarzeme Dzulija Eglaine Fjodors Jerozidn Ga re 1 ems Garupe Gaysma Globuss Gramts Grif Grot Gunars Akis Hoglande Ilukste Imanta Inciems Indra Inzemens Judincevs Irlava Islica BALTIKA ORLENOK MAYAKOVSKIY RYBATSKAYA SLAVA OKEAN PIONERSK BALTIKA PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN SHUSHVE BALTIKA TAVRIYA KARL LIBKNEKHT ALPINIST ORLENOK BALTIKA BALTIKA PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN BALTIKA KARL LIBKNEKHT ZHELEZNYAKOV BALTIKA ALPINIST ATLANTIK BALTIKA OSTROV RUSSKIY BALTIKA LUCHEGORSK BALTIKA BALTIKA OKEAN BALTIKA OKEAN PROMETEY MOD A PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN PROMETEY KARL LIBKNEKHT SHUSHVE OSTROV RUSSKIY DRUZHBA ALPINIST MAYAKOVSKIY LUCHEGORSK LUCHEGORSK MAYAKOVSKIY PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN PROMETEY MOD A PROMETEY MOD A PROMETEY BALTIKA BALTIKA PROMETEY BALTIKA BALTIKA LUCHEGORSK BALTIKA PROMETEY OKEAN BOLOGOYE PROMETEY MOD A KIROVETS BOLOGOYE 3. 11. 1. 108 1.513 2.433 107 16.532 508 14.340 108 4.407 104 359 117 179 117 556 755 720 513 117 108 3.272 108 12.403 775 108 720 117 2.177 108 9.795 108 2.581 117 108 117 108 508 117 108 117 117 117 117 508 3.977 117 4.407 3.977 11.755 179 9.752 669 720 170 581 581 407 407 146 3.977 3.933 108 108 3.931 108 108 2.322 117 3.017 508 334 104 3.977 190 334 61 Appendix 1. Latvia. Continued. Vessel naliie Class 13Rr Country built Year GDR 1974 GDR 1975 GDR 1972 GDR 1976 USSR 1990 USSR 1986 GDR 1981 USSR 1968 GDR 1959 GDR 1982 GDR 1959 Sweden 1970 USSR 1966 USSR 1980 USSR 1969 GDR 1972 GDR 1971 GDR 1986 USSR 1974 USSR 1965 USSR 1991 GDR 1960 USSR 1967 USSR 1965 USSR 1987 USSR 1974 GDR 1959 USSR 1969 USSR 1971 USSR 1974 USSR 1973 GDR 1960 USSR 1990 GDR 1986 GDR 1982 USSR 1968 USSR 1974 USSR 1975 USSR 1976 USSR 1981 USSR 1985 USSR 1986 GDR 1959 USSR 1968 Germany 1957 USSR 1961 USSR 1971 USSR 1977 GDR 1985 GDR 1984 GDR 1983 GDR 1983 GDR 1972 GDR 1984 USSR 1965 GDR 1984 GDR 1976 Poland 1967 USSR 1988 USSR 1986 USSR 1976 USSR 1988 USSR 1976 Poland 1968 USSR 1988 GDR 1958 Poland 1980 GDR 1975 GDR 1959 USSR 1976 USSR 1983 USSR 1968 USSR 1966 Sweden 1971 USSR 1970 GDR 1974 Finland 1973 Jams Rainbergs Jukums Vacietis Jurnieks Kalngale Kalvene Kapteinis Jedemskis Kapteinis Kulinics Karl is Bude Karpa Kaugun Kaupo Kipsala Kira Kolka Komsomol Latvn Kondors Korunds Kursa Kvarcs Laguna Laimdota Latgale Ledus Ligatne Ligita Limbazhi Lims Luga Lunohods I Manga! i Mars 2 Miers Mikelbaka Mil gravis Misa Mr amor MRTK 1008 MRTK 1020 MRTK 1025 MRTK 1063 MRTK 1098 Muravjova Negis Nelson Stepanyan Nemuna Nika Nikolayevskiy Komsomolets Nitsa Ochamuri Odincova Olaine Orciks Orlecs Orska Otrog Ozen Pabazi Pardaugava Pavilosta Pegas Perse Peteris Plesums Plamja Plavniekl Plienciems Priekule Pruzam Radonits Rauda Rauna Regul s Roberts Eidemanis Rohuneeme Ronu Sal a Rotans Rozula Rumbula PROMETEY PROMETEY ATLANTIK PROMETEY PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN KARL LIBKNEKHT MAYAKOVSKIY OKEAN PROMETEY MOD A OKEAN OSTROV RUSSKIY MAYAKOVSKIY ALPINIST MAYAKOVSKIY ATLANTIK ATLANTIK ORLENOK LUCHEGORSK MAYAKOVSKIY OKEAN TAVRIYA MAYAKOVSKIY ALPINIST BALTIKA OKEAN MAYAKOVSKIY LUCHEGORSK RADUZHNYY LUCHEGORSK OKEAN PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN ORLENOK PROMETEY MOD A MAYAKOVSKIY BALTIKA BALTIKA BALTIKA BALTIKA BALTIKA ALPINIST OKEAN MAYAKOVSKIY YANA KHOBI LUCHEGORSK ALPINIST ORLENOK ORLENOK ORLENOK ORLENOK ATLANTIK ORLENOK MAYAKOVSKIY ORLENOK PROMETEY PIONERSK ALPINIST ZHELEZNYAKOV BALTIKA ALPINIST KARELIYA PROFESSOR BARANOV KONTUR SPRUT ATLANTIK OKEAN BALTIKA PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN MAYAKOVSKIY OSTROV RUSSKIY MAYAK PROMETEY ALTAY 3. 3. 2. 3, 4 11 2 980 977 657 977 117 407 755 352 507 3.977 502 9,795 2,406 720 3,170 2,531 2,177 1,895 3,014 3.170 104 507 3,556 2,433 738 108 508 3,170 2,581 633 3,152 508 4,407 1,513 3.977 3,170 108 108 108 108 108 738 508 3,170 3,550 795 2.581 720 1.513 1.513 1.898 513 154 513 170 513 977 13.604 720 775 108 738 206 13.571 117 264 4.769 2,154 507 108 3.272 3.162 100 9.795 638 3.977 3.468 62 Appendix 1. Latvia. Continued Vessel name Class "GRT Country bui It Year USSR 1977 USSR 1979 USSR 1976 USSR 1968 USSR 1975 USSR 1989 USSR 1964 USSR 1988 USSR 1964 GDR 1960 USSR 1984 USSR 1973 USSR 1990 USSR 1989 USSR 1990 USSR 1987 GDR 1962 GDR 1975 USSR 1980 USSR 1989 Germany 1965 USSR 1961 USSR 1961 GDR 1960 GDR 1955 USSR 1989 GDR 1959 USSR 1974 GDR 1955 USSR 1974 USSR 1977 GDR 1954 GDR 1959 GDR 1960 USSR 1990 GDR 1960 USSR 1976 USSR 1974 USSR 1984 USSR 1986 USSR 1989 GDR 1957 USSR 1973 USSR 1972 USSR 1988 USSR 1990 USSR 1962 GDR 1960 GDR 1957 USSR 1966 USSR 1974 USSR 1975 GDR 1955 USSR 1978 GDR 1960 USSR 1975 USSR 1967 GDR 1955 GDR 1959 USSR 1984 USSR 1968 USSR 1988 Rutsava Rybnadzor 4 Rykanda Salaca Salatsa Salatsgriva Salna Santa Sarma Saule Selden Selga Selga Sencis Senite Sergejs Jesenins Sigulda Sinuss Sknven Skulte Slava Sovetskaya Latviya Sovetskaya Rodina Spidola Stantsa Stende Store Straume Sventa Svetupe Tantals Tauisk Tayminsh Teviya Tobago Tsenba Ugale Uldis Ural Urga Usma Uzvara Vaidava Valka Vecmil gravis Vega Vetrasputns Viesturs Vita Vjaza Vytrupe Yaunupe Yurmala Zane Zemgale Zemgale Zheleznyakov Zhupanova Ziedoms Zitars Zurbagans Zvejmeks ALPINIST 720 169 BALTIKA 108 MAYAK 699 SELGA 100 ZHELEZNYAKOV 723 TAVRIYA 3.556 ZHELEZNYAKOV 723 TAVRIYA 3.556 OKEAN 507 50 LET SSSR 13.083 SELGA 100 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 117 RADUZHNYY 633 PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN 4.407 ANDIZHAN 3.251 ATLANTIK 2.097 50 LET SSSR 10.108 ALPINIST 720 RYBATSKAYA SLAVA 16.389 TAVRIYA 3.307 TAVRIYA 3.230 OKEAN 507 DRUZHBA 695 PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN 4.407 OKEAN 508 50 LET SSSR 13.083 RR 151 258 BALTIKA 108 KRONSHTADT 3.000 DRUZHBA 669 OKEAN 502 OKEAN 508 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 OKEAN 508 SELGA 100 SELGA 100 BALTIKA 108 BALTIKA 108 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 KONTUR 264 KARELIYA 180 LUCHEGORSK 2.581 PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN 4.407 LAUKUVA 359 TAVRIYA 3.308 OKEAN 508 KONTUR 264 MAYAKOVSKIY 2.406 BALTIKA 108 BALTIKA 108 DRUZHBA 695 BALTIKA 108 OKEAN 508 BALTIKA 108 ZHELEZNYAKOV 633 DRUZHBA 692 OKEAN 507 BALTIKA 108 MAYAK 680 ALPINIST 720 TOTAL = 214 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 476.802 GRT Source U.S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993. GRT - Gross registered tonnage Note: This list does not include the specialized vessel-s (fishery training, vessels, and tankers) listed in appendix 2. fishery research 63 Appendix 2. Latvia. Specialized vessels of the Latvian fishing fleet. by type and name of vessel, class, gross registered tonnage, country and year of construction: 1993. Vessel type/name Class GRT Built in Year built TRAINING VESSELS Eholots SKRYPLEV 3.708 Denmark 1969 Aiclnajums PROMETEI MODEL A 3.977 GDR 1979 Nikoljas Zicars YANTARNII 6.455 Russia 1968 Diplote ATLANTIK 2,211 GDR 1973 Kursografs ATLANTIK 2.211 GDR 1973 RESEARCH VESSELS* Bespokoinn KARELIA 206 Russia 1966 Baltijas Zvaigzne ZHELEZNYAKOV 738 Russia 1976 TANKERS Lnepaya YEGORYEVSK 7.949 Russia 1960 Yelsk YEGORYEVSK 7.562 Russia 1960 Source: U.S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 27 July 1993. * These 2 vessels are probably operated by the biologists of the Latvian Sea Fisheries Research Institute, located in Riga, who study mostly Baltic Sea fishery stocks and conditions. Appendix 3. Latvia. Riga Trawler and Refrigeration Fleet, by type of vessel, class, number, and gross tonnage: 1993. Type/class of vessels Gross tonnage Vessels Per vessel Total (E) Number GRT TRAWLERS BATM-PULKOVSKY MERIDIAN class RTMS-PROMETEI class RTMS-ATLANTIK II class RTMS-PELENGATOR class BMRT-MAYAKOVSKII class STM-ORLENOK (ATLANTIK III) SUBTOTAL MOTHERSHIPS AND PROCESSING VESSELS Motherships-RYBATSKAIA SLAVA class -PIONERSK class Processing- TAVRIYA class SUBTOTAL REFRIGERATED TRANSPORTS YANA class (Nemuna) YANTARNII class (Nikolajs Zicars) MRT-RADUZHNII class SUBTOTAL EXPLORATORY -RESEARCH VESSELS SRTMK GRAND TOTAL DECOMMISSIONED VESSELS 6 3.250 19,500 16 3.017 48,272 2 2.652 5,304 1 3.775 3,775 5 3.170 15,850 1 1.900 1,900 31 94.601 2* 16.500 33,000 2* 14,000 28,000 5** 3.180 15,900 9 76,900 1 3,550 3,550 1 6,455 6,455 1 630 630 3 10,535 2*** 750(E) 1,500 45 N/A 183.536 4 Sources; Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Personal Communication, December 1992: US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. * The 4 motherships had been reduced to 2 units by 1993. ** The 5 TAVRIYA-class vesselss had been reduced to 4 units by 1993. *** One exploratory vessel had been scrapped or sold by 1993. BATM ■ Bolshoi avtonomnyi trauler morozilnyi (Large autonomous freezer trawler) RTMS - Rybolovnyi trauler morozilnyi srednii (Medium freezer fishing trawler) BMRT - Bolshoi morozilnyi rybolovnyi trauler (Large freezer fishing trawler) STM - Srednii trauler morozilnyi (Medium freezer trawler) SRTMK - Srednii rybolovnyi trauler morozilnyi kormovoi (Medium freezer trawler) E - Estimated 64 Appendix 4. Latvia. Trawlers of the Liepaja High -seas Fishing Fleet, by class and name of vessel, gross registered tonnage, and year of construction; 1993. Vessel class/name GRT Year PULKOVSKII MERIDIAN Altairs Mikelbaka 4.407 4.407 1984 1990 ATLANTIK IV Korunds Kondors Sinuss 2,177 2,531 2.097 1972 1971 1975 ORLENOK Odincova Orska 1.513 1.513 1984 1984 ALPINIST Kolka Muravjova* Durbe* Barta I Pavilosta 720 738 720 720 720 1980 1986 1988 1987 1988 SPRUT Pruzam 4.769 1980 LUCHEGORSK Kvarcs Betel geize Lunohods I Valka Mars-2 3,014 2,581 2.581 2.581 3,162 1974 1970 1971 1972 1973 MAYAKOVSKII Luga 3.170 1969 KRONSHTADT Tantals 3,000 1977 TOTAL GRT 47.121 Class not known Spnka N/A TOTAL NUMBER OF VESSELS = 21 Source. Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs, Personal Communication, June 1993. * The 2 Alpinist-class trawlers are in a U S shipyard in Texas for modernization 65 Appendix 5. Latvia. Fishing fleet reduction, by disposition; 1993. Vessel name Class GRT Construct Country ;ion Year New owner INACTIVE VESSELS Ardava MAYAKOVSKII E. Veidenbaums MAYAKOVSKII 2.406 2.433 USSR USSR 1967 1960 * REFLAGGED VESSELS Darya Zar I Plutonas SIBIR Sedov SEDOV Virsaitis ZHELEZNYAKOV 117 5.942 3.709 723 USSR USSR GDR USSR 1986 1969 1921 1990 Iran Lithuania Russia Russia TOTAL = 6 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 15,330 GRT Source: US Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 27 July 1993 * These vessels became inactive in March 1993. Note Six stern factory trawlers (names are not known) are being held in Argentina and Uruguay. See Chapter III for details. Appendix 6. Latvia. Fisheries catch, production, fleet, and employment; 1989-1993. Year Fisheries C( Baltic High-seas 3tch Total Fisheries Production High-seas vessels Employment Edible Canned Total Industrial (2) 1.000 metric t( 3ns(t) l.OOOt cansd; 1 1 . OOOt l.OOOt number persons 1987 N/A N/A 571 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1988 N/A N/A 558 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 1989 60 483 ^3*** 244 235 327 97 92 30.000 1990 58 409 457*** 203 229 283 85 94 28.800 1991 55 309 365 166 215 237 57 96 29.200 1992* N/A N/A 125 83 72 109 20 87 25.000 1993** 55 150(3) 200(3) 111 96 145 27 79 25.200 Sources: Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs. Personal Communication. December 1992 and June 1993. Latvia: An Economic Profile. Washington. DC August 1992 (1987 & 1988 catch figures only) N/A - Not available * January -September only ** Forecast *** In the second source, the 1989 and 1990 catch figures are given as 547 and 470. respectively (1) In million of standard cans (350 grams each) (2) Mainly fish meal and fish oils (3) Personal communication from the Latvian Deputy Minister of Maritime Affairs. June 1993 66 2.4 LITHUANIA Lithuania is the largest of the three Baltic countries that became independent from the Soviet Union in 1991. The Lithuanian fishing industry was part of the centrally planned economy, directed by the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries in Moscow, and its fishing fleet was sustained by the Soviet network of fishery support vessels and representatives in foreign ports. Lithuania now has to secure access to fishing grounds in foreign 200-mile zones itself and can no longer rely on cheap, subsidized Soviet diesel oil and the domestic Soviet sales network which previously sustained them. The transition from a command to a free-market economy has been exacerbated by the new political situation and the need to reorganize the fishery administration. The Lithuanian fishing fleet has 209 vessels with a total of 449,000 gross registered tons (GRT); its capacity exceeds Lithuania's fishery resources. CONTENTS I. Background 67 II. Fishing Fleet 68 A. High-seas Fleet 68 B. Fleet Reduction 73 C. Jiua State Fishing Company 73 III. Fishing Ports 74 IV. Fisheries Catch 75 V. Fishing Grounds 75 VI. Fisheries Administration 76 VII. Bilateral Agreements 76 VIII. Outlook 77 Sources 78 Endnotes 79 Appendices 81 Bordering in the north on Latvia, it shares the I. BACKGROUND shallow Kursiu Marios (the Bay of Kursk) with the Russian Kaliningrad enclave in the Lithuania is the largest and the most south. The population of this southernmost populous of the three Baltic states. With a Baltic state is 3.7 million inhabitants, land area about the size of West Virginia (65,200 square kilometers), its window to the In 1990, the high-seas fishing fleet of 153 Baltic Sea is small - 40 kilometers.' vessels landed 326,000 metric tons of fishery 67 products. The small Baltic fleet landed only 18,000 tons. About 9,000 tons were harvested from freshwater ponds. By the end of 1992, however, the total catch was halved to 170,000 tons. The fisheries sector employed about 24,000 persons in 1991; of this total, 9,000 were employed in the fishing fleets, while 15,000 were working in the fish-processing industry. The percentage of fisheries contribution to the gross national product is not available, nor is there any reliable information on the amount and the type of fishery commodities exported. n. FISHING FLEET The Lithuanian fishing fleet consisted of 201 fishing and fishery support vessels as the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991. Of this total, 153 vessels fished on the high-seas and 48 in the Baltic. Lithuania had the smallest fleet out of the three former Soviet Baltic republics, comprising only about 26 percent of the 762 vessels in the three Baltic fleets.' A study done by the Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) in 1991, after the country declared its independence, found that the fishing fleet was in poor condition when compared to the average standards of Western fishing nations. The NIB estimated that nearly one half of the fishing vessels, deployed in the Baltic Sea and on the high- seas, was obsolete. The processing fleet was in even worse condition; only about a third of the vessels was considered worthwhile to upgrade and modernize. The NIB estimated that some upgrading could be done with relatively modest investments. However, the difficult economic situation currently facing the Lithuanian Government will likely mean that funding for the fleet is unavailable. Of the 153 high-seas vessels, the state- owned company JURA\ located in the port city of Klaipeda, took over the operation of 124 high-seas vessels after Lithuania became independent in late 1991.'* Another state- owned company, the Klaipeda State Transportation Fleet, operates 24 fishery support vessels.^ The 5 remaining vessels were probably inactive at the time the two companies took over the Lithuanian fishery fleet. A separate fleet composed of 51 small trawlers, belonging mainly to 3 Lithuanian Baltic fishing companies (Neringa and Pajuris, former sovkhozes, and Baltija, a former kolkhoz), fishes on the Baltic Sea. Baltija is the largest of the 3 now privatized fishing companies; it owns 40 trawlers and 4 support vessels, and receives the lion's share of Lithuania's Baltic Sea catch quota.* A. High-seas Fleet As of late July 1993, Lithuania's high-seas fishing fleet was composed of 1 16 units (table 1) including 92 large and medium trawlers, as well as 24 refrigerated transports and other support vessels, including 3 tankers.'' Most of the vessels were built in former Soviet and East German shipyards in the 1970s. The entire Lithuanian fishing fleet has a total gross registered tonnage (GRT) of over 448,000 tons. 68 Photo I.— The Alitus is a 360 gross ton medium-sized Lithuanian stern trawler. 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BACKGROUND Ukraine occupies 603,700 square kilometers, or 2.7 percent of the former USSR, (nearly the size of Texas), and is the largest country in Europe besides Russia.' Its coastline along the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov extends for a total of 2,782 kilometers. Ukraine was the second most populous Soviet republic with 51.9 million inhabitants, or about 18 percent of the population of the former USSR.' Table 1. Ukraine. High-seas fishing and fishery support fleet, by number and type of vessel. 1991. Type of vessel Number Fishing 135 Transport 77 Floating factories 4 Training 3 Unspecified 45 TotaT 264 Source: Baseinovoe Proizvodstvennoe Ob'edineme Yugryba Sevastopol. 1991 The fishing industry in Ukraine is mainly based in the Black Sea ports of Odessa, Sevastopol, and Kerch, while shipyards constructing fishery vessels are principally located near the port of Nikolaev. !I. FISHING FLEET Confirmed data on the number of Ukrainian fishing vessels could not be obtained in time for inclusion in this report. The U.S. Embassy requested this information in June 1993, but has received no response Table 2. Ukraine. Fishing fleet, by selected vessel capacity: 1993. Capacity Number GRT Average GRT 100-500 GRT 107 Above 500 GRT 247 TOTAL 354 16.463 890.360 906.823 154 3.605 2.554 Source: U.S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 1993. from the Ukrainian State Committee on Fisheries to which the inquiry was directed. Three major statistical sources were consulted: a brochure published in 1991 by the Soviet Southern Fisheries Administration, YUGRYBA (table 1); a list of Ukrainian vessels provided by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (table 2); and the Lloyd's Register of Shipping (table 3). The difference between the first two sets of figures for the high-seas fleet (264 against 247 vessels) is not great, and probably resulted from the decommissioning of over 20 Ukrainian registry fishing vessels from 1991 to 1993. One must also remember that during those two years the Soviet fishing vessels, which belonged to the Ukrainian Soviet Republic, were re-registered under the newly established registry of Ukraine. Unfortunately, YUGRYBA's 1991 brochure did not list vessel owners, or the names of 150 Table 3. Ukraine. Fishing and fishery support fleet, by number and total gross registered tonnage. December 1992. Vessel type Number Total GRT Fishing Support Total 272 _23 295 469,512 86.215 555.727 Source. Lloyd' s Register of Shippi ng . Fleet Statistics at 31 December 1992. London. 1993 individual vessels, so that the decommissioned vessels could not be identified by comparing them with the detailed information provided by the U.S. Navy (appendix 1). Lloyd's Register of Shipping reports the Ukrainian fishery fleet at 295 units on December 31, 1992. Of this total, 272 were fishing vessels and 23 fishery support vessels. The gross tonnage of these vessels was not identified and it is likely that all vessels have over 100 gross tons. The best explanation for the larger number of vessels seems to be that the Ukrainians did not notify Lloyd's of all decommissioned vessels. A. High-seas Fleet According to the U.S. Navy, the Ukrainian high-seas fishery fleet consisted of 247 units in July 1993 (appendix 1). Of this total, 232 units were medium and large trawlers, refrigerated transports, and baseships and processing vessels of various classes. Another 14 units were training and research vessels, and there was one tanker. The vast majority of these vessels were built in the shipyards of the former Soviet Union and the former East Germany. The average age of the Ukrainian high-seas fleet was 14 years for fishing vessels and 17 years for fishery support vessels. B. Vessel Classes The Ukrainian fleet has 47 various classes of fishing and fish-processing vessels (appendix 2). Most of them were built in the former Soviet Union (which included Ukrainian shipyards), in Poland, and in the former East Germany. Several tankers were built in Finland, while large processing stern trawlers (SKRYPLEV and REMBRANDT classes) were ordered from Denmark and the Netherlands, respectively. The stern factory trawlers of the N. KOVCHOVA class, probably the largest such trawlers in the world, were constructed in the Nantes shipyard in France. C. Fleet Reduction In 1993, Ukraine reduced its fishing fleet register by 6 vessels; 5 were reflagged to other countries, and 1 was decommissioned (appendix 3). These 6 vessels represented a total reduction of 18,945 gross registered tons. A mothership, the Piatidesiatilet SSSR and the medium trawler, Aldebaran, were turned over to the Russian Federation. A small trawler, Nalle, was reflagged to Estonia, a small factory trawler was reflagged to Malta', while a large stern factory trawler now flies the Panamanian flag. One trawler, the Al Audem, has been inactive since 29 January 1993. All of these vessels were built in Ukraine and are 15-20 years old.^ As far as is known, none of these vessels was scrapped. D. Domestic Shipyards Ukraine has several shipyards which build fishery vessels; most are located in the southern city of Nikolaev on the Black Sea, but there is also a large shipyard in Kiev and in other cities (appendix 4). These shipyards construct a variety of trawlers and fishery support vessels, including the PULKOVSKII MERIDIAN-class of large freezer-trawlers^ the ANTARKTIDA-class of large stern factory trawlers^ and the BUKHTA RUSSKAYA-class of refrigerated cargo vessels^. A list of all known classes built in Ukrainian shipyards (which were formerly constructing fishery vessels for the entire Soviet Union) is given in appendix 4. This list is by no means complete, but it does give 131 an idea of how extensive these shipbuilding activities were over the past 30 years. Information on the building of fishery vessels (as well as any other vessel) was a state secret under the old communist regime, as was the number of persons employed. The authors made no attempt to obtain additional information since historical background will not significantly help in understanding either the present or the future activities of Ukrainian shipbuilding given the changing economic conditions. To modernize the Ukrainian fleet of fish processing and transport vessels, the Ukrainian Government organized a conference on June 23, 1993, in Nikolayev on the Black Sea, the center for Ukrainian fishing vessel construction. Attending were fishery experts from Ukraine and the Russian Federation and reportedly also representatives of various German companies.* A West German company has delivered to the Nikolaev shipyards modern cold storage and refrigeration equipment to build 16 supertrawlers. Anatolii KYNAR, a representative of the Ukrainian President in the Nikolaev region, stated at a press conference that Ukraine can earn up to $900 million a year (by the year 2000) by modernizing its shipyards and gearing them for exports. ni. CATCH AND GROUNDS A. Fishery Catch Before the dissolution of the USSR, statistical data on the Ukrainian fisheries catch was collected by the AU-Union Research Institute for Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) in Moscow, transmitted for publication to the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) in Rome, and incorporated into the published catch data for the Soviet Union. Each former Soviet republic, however, kept its own set of statistics, and historical data on the Ukrainian catch are probably available, but the authors have been unable to obtain them from the Ukrainian State Committee on Fisheries despite repeated requests. A limited set of January-June 1992 and 1993 catch statistics was graciously supplied by the Danish Ministry of Fisheries and FAO (appendix 5). During the first 6 months of 1993, the Ukrainian high-seas catch amounted to 155,000 metric tons (t), almost 30 percent below the catch harvested during the same period in 1992. Despite the decreased catch in 1993, the supply of edible fishery products decreased only slightly (by 0.2 percent). In 1993, the utilization of the catch to produce edible fishery products was almost equal to the 1992 figure (110,000 t in 1992 and 109,000 t in 1993). This was possible because the reduction of harvested fish to fishmeal during January-June 1993 decreased by 40 percent (from 17,000 to 10,000 t), compared with such catch reduction during the comparable time period in 1992. To earn hard currencies and pay licensing fees for access to foreign fishing zones, the Ukrainian marine fishing companies exported 82,000 t of the catch, or about 73 percent of the 6-month landings. Only about 1,000 t was exported to the Commonwealth of Independent States. The specific commodities exported are not known, but were most likely frozen fish. The above statistics appear to indicate that the Ukrainian people received precious little of the country's fishery catch for their own consumption; in the first half of 1993 only 26,000 t, or less than 25 percent of 152 the total catch, was processed and marketed to the Ukrainians. Unfortunately, the Ukrainian statistics do not include information on the catch by species or by fishing areas. One can only presume that the Ukrainian fishermen were harvesting their catch in approximately the same areas as in previous years. B. Fishing Grounds Ukraine continues to fish in the world's oceans, but has recently reduced its operations considerably. Since 1991, Ukrainian fishermen no longer fish off Chile and Peru. Similarly, operations off Morocco have been suspended because Ukraine has been unable to conclude a bilateral fisheries agreement similar to the one the Soviet Union had with Morocco. ■* Northeast Atlantic (FAO statistical area 27): In August 1993, the famous fish factory mothership, Vostok, the largest in the world (26,400 CRT), was anchored off Lerwick in the Shetland Islands (Scotland) to buy supplies of pelagic fish to process. "^' The Vostok is owned by the ANTARKTIKA company of Odessa. Antarctica (FAO statistical area 18): Ukrainian vessels have been fishing in the Antarctic waters, mostly for krill, in the area of the Convention on Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) for several years. During the 1991/1992 fishing season (July 1, 1991 - June 30, 1992), the vessels of the Soviet Southern Fisheries Administration (YUGRYBA) operated 38 vessels in the CCAMLR area. Of this total, 9 vessels belonged to YUGRYBPOISK, 16 to the Atlantika company, 6 to the Antartika company, and 7 to KERCHRYBPROM." During the 1993 Antarctic season (January 1 - June 30), 8 Ukrainian vessels harvested fish in the Antarctic Convention Area. The Atlantika company operated 5 vessels (3 ATLANTIKs and 2 ANTARKTIDA-class stern trawlers), YUGRYBPOISK sent out 2 vessels (an ATLANTIK stern factory trawler and a ZHELEZNYAKOV medium trawler) and the Antarktika company had one medium trawler of ZHELEZNYAKOV class catching krill. '^ Southwestern Pacific (FAO statistical area 81): Ukrainian fishermen have allegedly been fishing in a prohibited area 25 miles off the South Islands' western coast. In late 1992, one Ukrainian trawler and one Georgian trawler were seized by New Zealand fishery enforcement patrols. The Ukrainian vessel, Aleksey Slobodchikov, was released, but the owners had to post a bond of NZ$ 2.5 million. The fate of the Georgian trawler (Bratya Stoyanovy) is not known. '^ Southeast Atlantic (FAO statistical area 47): Ukraine conducted fishing operations in the southeastern Atlantic off Africa until Namibia became independent in 1990, and subsequently declared a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Soon after, a moratorium on fishing in Namibia's EEZ was announced. The last Ukrainian fishing effort in Namibian waters was from March to December 1991, when YUGRYBA operated 19 trawlers there.''* 153 IV. FISHERIES ADMINISTRATION Upon gaining its independence from the USSR in December 1991, the fishing industry of Ukraine, previously subordinate to the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries in Moscow, had to be reorganized to reflect the new national sovereignty. The Ukrainian Government established a State Committee on Fisheries to formulate and execute Ukrainian fishery policies. The Committee was charged with: establishing fishery relations with the other CIS countries; continuing international cooperation in fisheries; supervising the establishment of Ukrainian fishery research institutions; conducting exploratory fishing; maintaining the fishing fleet; and improving the supply of fishery products to the Ukrainian population.'^ The control of the Ukrainian fishing industry, including the fishing fleet, had been under the central direction of the USSR Ministry of Fisheries through YUGRYBA, the Soviet Southern Fisheries Administration. In January 1992, YUGRYBA was broken up and most of the former Administration was absorbed by Ukraine, including YUGRYBA headquarters in Sevastopol. The Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, together with its fishing fleet and the fish-processing infrastructure, remained under the Russian Federation jurisdiction, while the port of Poti and its fisheries administration was taken over by the independent Georgian Republic. V. BILATERAL AGREEMENTS When the Soviet Union ceased to exist, Ukraine lost access to fishing grounds, such as the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk, which are now part of the Russian FEZ. Ukraine also lost access to several foreign fishing zones because the former Soviet Union's bilateral fishery access agreements were taken over by the Russian Federation, which was considered the successor state to the Soviet Union. For example, after the breakup of the USSR, Morocco decided not to negotiate a separate fisheries agreement with the Republic of Ukraine even though it did conclude a new fishery access agreement with the Russian Federation (allowing its fishermen to harvest 400,000 t of fish annually). Bulgaria: In September 1993, Bulgaria signed a 5-year fisheries cooperation agreement with Ukraine. The agreement provides for joint efforts in the transportation of fish, the construction of fishing and fishery support vessels, and the delivery of new and spare parts and equipment. Both countries have also committed themselves to develop joint patents and standards procedures in their respective fishing industries.'" One of the possible advantages of this agreement for the Bulgarians will be the chance to repair and modernize their 5 SIBIR-class fishery transport vessels in the Ukrainian shipyard where they were originally built. Another will be the conduct of joint fishery operations in the Antarctic. Canada: Ukraine has been holding discussions with Canada aimed at obtaming a catch quota in the area governed by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). The Ukrainians claim to have fished the 200-mile zone of Canada in the past (as part of the Soviet Union's fleet) and feel that they are entitled to have a portion of the former Soviet NAFO quota, which has been "appropriated" by the Russian Federation.'^ In 1993, the Russians gave a portion of their inherited NAFO quota to each of the 3 former Soviet 154 Baltic Republics, but nothing to Ukraine. At the subsequent NAFO annual meeting in October 1993, the Russian Federation obtained the 1994 catch allocation of 32,000 t, but its division among former Soviet republics has not yet been negotiated as of this writing. Chile: Ukrainian companies are believed to be participating in Kerchval, S.A., a $4.5 million joint venture negotiated by Soviet officials. The Chilean partners are Sodimin Ltd., Serpor S.A., and Conico, S.A. The joint venture will operate two 3,000-GRT stern factory trawlers that have been transferred from the former-Soviet fleet and reflagged in Chile. Kerchval will catch, process, and market fishery products (fresh, frozen, and canned) in international markets, including those of Eastern Europe.'- The Chilean firm, Compafiia de Inversiones also signed a joint venture agreement with the Soviet Fishermen's Union of Kerch, which is in Ukraine.'' The authors believe that Ukrainian companies have taken over this venture, but have no specific information. The Gambia: The U.S. Embassy in Banjul, the Gambia, transmitted in June 1993, a list of fishing licenses issued by the Gambian Government to foreign-owned vessels during the past 7 years. Among these were 3 "Kiev" vessels (in addition to 4 "Kaliningrad" vessels). It is presumed that the "Kiev" vessels belong to what is now the Ukrainian fishing fleet, but unfortunately no information is available on when they fished there, their names and catch, or whether these operations are continuing at the present time. Mauritania: The Government of Ukraine concluded a bilateral fisheries agreement with the Mauritanian Government on 11 April 1993. The agreement concerns the development of marine fishing, scientific and technical research, training, the repair of fishery vessels, and the creation and promotion of joint fishing companies.-^ Nigeria: In early 1992, the Odessa fishing company. Atoll, concluded a contract with the Nigerian company Lanny, creating the Lanny- Atoll fisheries joint venture. This contract was supposed to allow 3 Ukrainian vessels to fish in the Nigerian 200-mile zone, but, upon arrival in Port Harcourt, the vessels apparently encountered "red tape" which prevented them from carrying out fishing operations. The vessels and their crews of 24 Ukrainian fishermen languished in Nigeria for several months, and by June 1992, several fishermen had contracted malaria. Ukraine's lack of proper diplomatic and economic support in Nigeria meant that the sick fishermen remained there almost another 2 months before being saved by the local Russian Embassy, which arranged for the 21 sick crew members and 3 dead bodies to be flown back to Kiev.^' VI. FISHERY COMPANIES In 1991, before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the major state-owned organizations under the jurisdiction of the Soviet Southern Fisheries Administration, YUGRYBA, and located in the Soviet Socialist Republic of Ukraine, were: Antarktika, Atlantika, Kerchrybprom, Sevazrybprom, Novorossiiskrybprom, Yugrybsudoremont, Yugrybtechtsentr, Yugrybtranssbyt, and Yugrybpoisk (appendix 6)." It is not known whether a privatization campaign is underway to convert these 155 companies into private share-holding companies. The ANTARKTIKA Fisheries Production Association has its roots in the Whaling Fleet Administration set up in the Black Sea port of Odessa in 1946. In 1987, the Association ceased whaling operations and its largest whaling vessel, which was constructed in 1959, the Sovetskaia Ukraina (32,024 GRT), was re-equipped to catch, process, and can fish. ANTARKTIKA's huge fish factory mothership, the Vostok (26,400 GRT), carries her own fleet of 1 1 fishing vessels on board, and can produce 25,000 cans of fish daily.'^^ The company's fleet comprised over 40 trawlers of various classes (in addition to the 2 large motherships), and it also owned shore- processing plants, construction facilities, and a ship repair yard; it employed 11,000 persons. 24 In 1991, ANTARKTIKA owned 57 fishing, 12 transport, and 2 factory vessels, and employed 13,400 people. The ATLANTIKA Fisheries Production Association was a result of the I960 expansion of the Soviet fishing industry and the creation of the Sevastopol Ocean Fishing Administration, which in 1972 changed its name to ATLANTIKA. In 1991, the Association employed 8,850 people and owned over 45 fishing and 3 training vessels. KERCHRYBPROM, which was formed in 1950 as the Kerch State-owned Base of Fishing and Marine Mammals, is one of the oldest state enterprises in the Azov/Black Sea Region. In 1991, the Association owned 33 fishing, 5 transport, and 2 floating factories, and employed 8,120 people. YUGRYBSUDOREMONT is a commercial repair shipyard founded in 1981. It repairs large vessels and owns 3 docks, 1 in Kerch and 2 floating docks in Sevastopol. YUGRYBTRANSSBYT, die Refrigerated Transport and Trading Administration, was formed in 1967. It is responsible for receiving fish and marine products from national and foreign vessels and transporting them to Soviet and foreign ports for processing or marketing. YUGRYBPOISK, the Southern Fisheries Exploratory and Production Association, specializes in fish prospecting and in marine research. Established in 1939, it owned 45 vessels of various types and classes carrying many kinds of fishing gear, fish-finding equipment and instruments, and conducting several research projects in 1991. Its research vessels perform hydrographic surveys, search for new potential catch species and fishing grounds, and analyze geophysical and hydrometeorological data. Independent fishing companies began to form in Ukraine as early as 1988. For instance, the crew of the trawler Dneprodzerzhinsk (ATLANTIK class of 2,654 GRT) leased a vessel from the ANTARKTIKA Association with plans to operate it independently on a contract basis. Details of the activities of this venture are not known, nor whether others have followed in the steps of this ambitious and innovative crew." Information on other independent fishing companies and on the current status of the above-mentioned state-owned enterprises is not available. 156 VII. OUTLOOK The prospects for the Ukrainian fishing industry are difficult to determine because of the dearth of available information. Ukrainian fishermen suffer from some of the same problems as those in the three Baltic states (i.e., loss of access to distant-water fishing grounds, limited diplomatic representation, and the high price of diesel fuel), but are also further hampered by the relatively slow pace of economic reform in the country. Ukraine's Government, especially the parliament, is conservative and has implemented few reforms necessary to create a free market economy. It also has made little progress towards privatizing state- owned companies. Ukraine has a substantial fishing fleet, but apparently lacks the management skills to utilize it efficiently. An official Ukrainian Government source indicated that only about 30 percent of the Ukrainian high-seas fleet was deployed in distant-water fishing operations in the summer of 1993, the height of the fishing season. The remainder was probably idle in Ukrainian ports. SOURCES Baseinovoe Proizvodstvennoe Ob 'edinenie Yugryba. Sevastopol, 1991. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Lloyd's Fleet Statistics at 31 December 1992. London, 1993. U.S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence, 29 July 1993. 157 ENDNOTES 1. National Technical Information Service. Ukraine: An Economic Profile, November 1991; BISNIS. Commercial Overview of Ukraine, Washington, DC, 1993. 2. BISNIS. Commercial Overview of Ukraine. Washington, DC, 1993. The figure of 51.9 million inhabitants is from the July 1992 census. 3. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, (List of reflagged fishing vessels registered in Malta, July 1993). 4. Ibid. 5. Rybatskie Novosti (Moscow), No. 2, January 1993. 6. Moscow Radio, 21 December 1988. 7. Soviet TV, 6 July 1988. 8. Radio Ukraine, English Broadcast, June 24, 1993. 9. Deputy Chairman of the Ukrainian State Committee on Fisheries, Personal Conmiunication. 16 July 1993. See the section on Morocco in chapter 2 of this report for more infonnation. 10. Fishing News International, September 1991. 1 1 . See section VI for explanation of these acronyms. 12. Convention on Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), Inspection System Circular, 27 January 1993. 13. Fishing News International, November 1992. 14. U.S. Embassy, Windhoek, "Fisheries of Namibia," 1991. Of these 19 vessels, 5 belonged to the Antarktika company, 5 to Atlantika company, 5 to YUGRYBPOISK, and 4 to KERCHRYBPROM. 15. Eurofish Report, 30 January 1992. 16. U.S. Embassy, Sofia, 29 September 1993. The most recent data indicate tiiat the Bulgarian and Ukrainian fishing fleets will conduct joint fishing operations in the Antarctic in the CCAMLR Convention area. 17. Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans, Personal Communication, 20 September 1992. 18. "Sociedad Conjunta Chileano-Sovietica," Industrias Pesquerus, 10 August 1991, p. 35. 19. "Commercial agreement with the USSR signed," Chile Economic Report. November, 1990, p. 3. 20. Islamic Republic of Mauritania Radio (Nouakchott), 1 1 April 1993. 21. ITAR-TASS News Agency (Moscow), 24 July 1992. 22. Baseinovoe Proizvodstx'ennoe Ob'edinenie Yugryba. Sevastopol, 1991. All information in section VI, unless otlierwise noted, is From tliis YUGRYBA brochure. 23. Fishing News International, September 1993. Tlie Vostok is the largest fish processing vessel in the world and was the flagship of the former Soviet fishing fleet when she was constructed 22 years ago at the Admiralteiskyi Shipyard in Leningrad. This vessel has 26,000 horsepower and uses a crew of 484 to operate her processing lines. 24. Moscow Radio, 16 November 1987. 25. Moscow Radio for Seamen, 7 August 1988. 159 Appendix 1. Ukraine. High-seas fishing and fishery support fleet, by vessel name, class, gross registered tonnage, and country and year of construction; 1993. Vessel name Class GRT Country Year Achuyevskiy Adaykhokh Aelita Akhi 1 1 eon Akhtuba Al Garraf Aleksandr Lavrenov Aleksei Slobodchikov Alma Alsu Amurskiy Zal iv Anapskiy Anas t as i a Anatoliy Gankevich Anatol iy Khal in Antarktida Apogey Apsheron Arabat Arneb Artek Astan Kesayev Ayu Dag Balta Barograf Bastion Belokamensk Beriks Besshumnyy Biosfera Bolshevo Boris Alekseyev Bukhta Kamyshovaya Bukhta Omega Burevestnik Chatyr Dag Chauda Cheremosh Daryal Deneb Desyataya Pyatiletka D i vnyy Dmitry Stefanov Dneprodzerzhinsk Dneprovskiy Li man Donisar Dvinskiy Zal iv Elektrogorsk E 1 1 i gen Fartak Fedor Korobkov Fidlent Flotinspektsiya 06 Foros Furat Gantiadi Garpuner Prokopenko Garpuner Zarva General Arshintsev General Chernyakhovskiy General Ostryakov General Petrov Geroi Adzhimushkaya Geroi Eltigena Geroi Kyryma ZHELEZNYAKOV bU& PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 MAYAK 557 PROMETEY 3,933 ATLANTIK 2,177 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 ORLENOK 1,513 PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN 4,407 ATLANTIK 2,177 ATLANTIK 2,177 AMURSKIY ZAL IV 12,891 ZHELEZNYAKOV 648 726 PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN 4,407 NATALIYA KOVSHOVA 6,620 ANTARKTIDA 6,392 PROMETEY 3,931 ATLANTIK 2,650 PROMETEY 3,931 ZHELEZNYAKOV 649 ATLANTIK 2,652 PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 ATLANTIK 2,177 ATLANTIK 2,652 ATLANTIK 2,211 RADUZHNYY 633 KRONSHTADT 2,327 MAYAK 600 MIRNYY 718 PROMETEY 3,977 TROPIK 1,920 PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 BUKHTA RUSSKAYA 6,607 BUKHTA RUSSKAYA 6,607 ATLANTIK 2,652 ATKANTIK 2,164 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 ATLANTIK 2,654 TROPIK 1,920 PULKOVSKIY MERIDAN 4,407 MIRNYY 718 ORLENOK 1,513 ATLANTIK 2,654 VETER 4,639 PROMETEY MOD A 3,933 AMURSKIY ZALIV 12,891 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 BASKUNCHAK 1,611 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 MOONZUND 7,656 ATLANTIK 2,242 MAYAK 565 PROMETEY 3,980 ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 REMBRANDT 4,020 PROMETEY 3,931 PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 MAYAK 558 PROMETEY 3,960 PROMETEY 3,931 ANTARKTIDA 6,392 ATLANTIK 2,154 REMBRANDT 4,199 RADUZHNYY 633 USSR 1976 GDR 1978 USSR 1967 GDR 1973 GDR 1967 USSR 1976 GDR 1985 USSR 1991 GDR 1968 GDR 1967 France 1970 USSR 1976 USSR 1992 USSR 1990 France 1967 USSR 1984 GDR 1974 GDR 1967 GDR 1975 USSR 1973 GDR 1967 GDR 1982 GDR 1967 GDR 1967 GDR 1973 USSR 1973 USSR 1979 USSR 1973 USSR 1957 GDR 1977 GDR 1965 GDR 1982 USSR 1986 USSR 1987 GDR 1967 GDR 1971 USSR 1974 USSR 1974 GDR 1968 GDR 1964 USSR 1990 USSR 1959 GDR 1987 GDR 1969 FRG 1967 GDR 1978 France 1971 USSR 1975 USSR 1971 USSR 1979 GDR 1989 GDR 1971 USSR 1973 GDR 1973 USSR 1973 Netherlands 1969 GDR 1976 GDR 1980 USSR 1965 GDR 1973 GDR 1976 USSR 1987 GDR 1971 Netherlands 1969 USSR 1988 160 Appendix 1. Ukraine. Continued. Vessel name Class CRT Country Year Geroi Perekopa RADUZHNYY 633 Geroyevka PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 Gidrobiolog ALPINIST MOD A 787 Gidronavt ALPINIST HOD A 788 Golub Mira MAYAK 558 Gornostayevka ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 Goryn ZHELEZNYAKOV 648 Grigoriy Kovtun PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN 4,407 Grom PROMETEY MOD A 3,977 Ignat Pavlyuchenkov ORLENOK 1,513 Ikhtiandr MAYAKOVSKIY 2,847 I lichevsk ATLANTIK 2,653 I lya Repin SIBIR 5,418 Imeni 61 Kommunara SIBIR 5,418 Ivan Burmistrov MOONZUND 7,656 Ivan Golubets PULKOVSKIY MERIDIAN Ivan Kucherenko MOONZUND 7,656 Ivan Pribilskiy BUKHTA RUSSKAYA 6,607 Ivan Vernigorenko ORLENOK 1,513 Izmail ATLANTIK 2,654 Kacha ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 Kal imita ZHELEZNYAKOV 775 Kalper PROMETEY MOD A 3,933 Kamchatskiy Proliv 50 LET SSSR 13,083 Kandalakshskiy Zaliv AMURSKIY ZALIV 12,891 ^ 'S^ *q. *o ^o Figure 1. Bulgaria. Number of high-seas fishing vessels, ranked by tonnage, 1975-92 gross tonnage, even though it only has 24 units. The data obtained from Lloyd's of London (appendix 3) agree with those from the U.S. Navy, except that for 1992, Lloyd's lists 21 trawlers rather than the 19 listed in Office of Naval lintelligence's compilation of July 1993. The composition of the Bulgarian high-seas fishing fleet has barely changed for almost 2 decades (figure 1), but beginning in 1990, the reduction of 7 vessels is readily apparent. The number of fishery support vessels, however, has not changed at all (figure 2). Fluctuations in the gross registered tonnage of the high-seas fleet over the past 17 years are given in appendix 3 . The 10 vessels having less than 500 gross tons are actually small coastal vessels with slightly over 100 gross tons each. Half of them were purchased recently (1990) from the former Soviet Union; the other half is much older (4 cutters were bought from the former East Germany in 1965). All 10 most likely fish in the Black Sea, but detailed information on their deployment is lacking. The 24 vessels which have over 500 gross tons are divided into 2 groups: one, composed of 19 large stern factory trawlers, conducts fishery operations on the high-seas; the second, consisting of 5 large base ships, supports the fishing operations of the first group. In fact, each of these vessels has over 2,000 gross tons (appendix 2). A, High-seas Fleet In March 1964, Bulgaria purchased its first large stern factory trawler of the TROPIK class and entered the high-seas fisheries (appendix 1). This purchase was followed by Number of vessels ■OOver 4,000 GRT /7Z n 7777777i 1_L '%\'->/%'%\\\\\\\%\'\\\'% Figure 2. Bulgaria. Number of high-seas fishery suppoit vessels; 1975-92. 187 4 more TROPIKs, in the next two years, and 3 MAYAKOVSKII-class large stern factory trawlers in 1967. The next year, the Bulgarians again shopped in the former German Democratic Republic where they ordered 3 modern ATLANTIK- class vessels from the Stralsund shipyard (which began to build this type of vessel serially in the 1960s). The vessels impressed the Bulgarians — reportedly they were more advanced than the Soviet-built MAYAKOVSKIIs -- and, during the next 3 years, another 8 ATLANTIKs were bought. By the end of 1971, Bulgaria's high-seas trawler fleet numbered 20 Soviet and East German-built units. During the same period, the Bulgarian Government also purchased 6 giant (6,000 GRT), SIBIR-class baseships from the Soviet Union to support the far-flung distant-water operations of its factory trawlers. The final phase of the Bulgarian high-seas fleet expansion took place in 1974-75, when Bulgaria purchased another 9 stern factory trawlers from Polish shipyards. This was an ill-timed move as, a year later, most of the world's coastal countries, including several off whose coasts Bulgarians fished heavily (Canada, the United States, the European Community countries) extended their fishery jurisdictions to 200 nautical miles. An additional negative impact was caused by the policies of the Bulgarian communists under the leadership of General Secretary, Todor Zhivkov. Instead of allowing the profits of the Bulgarian high-seas fisheries to be reinvested in the modernization and renovation of the high-seas fleet, they skimmed the accumulated funds and used them for other purposes. A complete account of this trend, which became critical in 1988, has not yet been fully disclosed, but it is known that the Bulgarian high-seas fishing company, OKEANSKI RIBOLOV, had to borrow money to make repairs on its vessels and was charged usurious interest rates on these loans.'' In July 1993, the 24- vessel fleet of OKEANSKI RIBOLOV, which conducts all of Bulgaria's high-seas fishing operations, consisted of 17 trawlers and 7 support vessels (appendix 2). This fleet is composed of: 6 ATLANTIK class large stern factory trawlers built in the former East Germany (about 20 years old); 9 KALMAR class trawlers built in Poland (about 16 years old-photo 1); 1 PULKOVSKII MERIDIAN class trawler built in the former Soviet Union (about 4 years old); 5 SIBIR class refrigerated transport vessels (all are over 20 years old); and 2 converted MAYAKOVSKII class trawlers which now serve as transport and support vessels.^ The utilization of the ZHELEZNYAKOV-class vessel is unknown; judging from its size, it may be used for exploratory fishing. The ATLANTIK, KALMAR, and PULKOVSKII MERIDIAN-class stern factory trawlers are equipped to fish for both demersal and pelagic fish by using bottom or mid- water trawls. They can process between 70 and 120 tons of landed fish each 24 hours. The catch is sorted, gutted and headed, filleted, frozen, and packed. The final product of whole or processed frozen fish blocks is packed in cartons (two or three blocks per carton). The offal is reduced to fishmeal." B. Fleet Reduction The Bulgarian Government purchased a total of 36 high-seas vessels during the 1964- Photo 1. Bulgaria. Bulgaria ordered 9 KALMAR-class stem factory trawlers (2,450GRT) from a Polish shipyard in the mid-1970s. 90 period (appendix 1). Currently, the fishing fleet consists of only 24 such vessels. (19 trawlers, supported by 5 large fishery transports and baseships). The 12 vessels which are no longer in the Bulgarian registry were mostly scrapped. They were 5 TROPIK class,' 1 MAYAKOVSKII class,^ and 6 ATLANTIK class stern factory trawlers.'' Their total tonnage amounted to 32,312 GRT, or about 40 percent of the current Bulgarian high-seas fleet tonnage. The stern factory trawlers of the ATLANTIK, KALMAR, and MAYAKOVSKII class still in the Bulgarian registry are by now all about 18-25 years old, but they are well-maintained and will continue their high-seas operations in the foreseeable future. One of Bulgaria's high-seas vessels, an ATLANTIK-class stern factory trawler, the Kondor, sank in April 1991 during a fishing trip in the Atlantic Ocean. '° It is therefore no longer listed in appendix 1 . The 5 large refrigerated transports and baseships of the SIBIR class (photo 2) are also about 20 years old, but will undergo modernization and continue to support the Bulgarian high-seas fleet. To obtain much needed hard currency, OKEANSKI RIBOLOV plans to sell its most 189 Photo 2. Bulgaria. Large refrigerated transports of the SIBIR class (5,000GRT) built in the USSR, carry fishery products to Bulgarian home ports. modern stern factory trawler, the Feniks, built in 1988 in an Ukrainian shipyard. III. HIGH-SEAS CATCH AND GROUNDS Bulgaria's fishing industry is dominated by high-seas fisheries (appendix 5). The Bulgarian fisheries began to develop in the early 1960s when the communist countries, inspired by the Soviet example, planned a major expansion into the world's oceans to provide the domestic population with highly- prized Atlantic species, and create additional occupations in an economic system where full employment was peremptory. The expansion was facilitated by the fact that most countries at that time claimed only the traditional 3-mile fishery limits. Since most of the demersal fishery resources, and many pelagics, dwell on the continental shelves, the extensions of fishery limits to 12 miles in the late 1960s, and to 200 nautical miles from 1975-77, spelled trouble for the future of Bulgarian high-seas fishing operations. The country's fishery officials and diplomats had to secure access to the fishing grounds where the Bulgarian fishermen had previously fished freely. This access, was increasingly denied over the years by the developed countries 190 which wanted these fisheries for their own citizens and by the developing countries which demanded payment for the resources. The loss of access to traditional distant-water grounds has meant the curtailment of high- seas operations on some fishing grounds and a significant decline in the catch. In 1991, Bulgaria's high-seas catch was 38,500 t, less than half of the 1989 catch of 81,300 tons. The Bulgarian high-seas catch has been decreasing since 1975, but the precipitous declines in 1990 and 1991 were largely caused by a reduced fishing effort off the coast of West and Southwest Africa. In 1992, the total catch will probably be further reduced because the Falkland Islands fisheries catch has been more than halved (appendix 5). The high-seas catch has always represented over three-fourths of the total Bulgarian catch, but its contribution has decreased from 90 percent of the total in 1975 to 77 percent in 1991. In recent years, Bulgaria's high-seas fleet has operated mainly in the Southeast and Southwest Atlantic (FAO statistical areas 47 and 41, respectively). These operations have yielded an average of between 80,000-90,000 metric tons (t) of fish annually, principally Cape horse mackerel, but also blue whiting, grenadier, and squid." Northwest Atlantic (FAO statistical area 21): In the northwestern Atlantic off the Canadian and United States coasts, the Bulgarian fishery was reduced to zero by 1985 following the extensionof fishery jurisdictions to 200 miles by these two countries. Recently, however, Bulgaria received a small catch allocation of about 2,000 t per year by the North Atlantic Fisheries Organization (NAFO). Northeast Atlantic (FAO area 27): The Bulgarian fishing effort in this region declined after the European Community declared its 200-mile FEZ in 1977. A small operation is maintained off the United Kingdom where Bulgarian trawlers are permitted to fish for Atlantic mackerel and conduct klondyking operations. The catch, however, is small; in 1991 it was about 4,000 tons. Central Eastern Atlantic (FAO area 34): The fishing grounds off West Africa supplied more than half of the total Bulgarian fisheries catch as late as 1980. By 1985, however, the Bulgarians have discontinued fishing in this area. Southwest Atlantic (FAO area 41): In the early 1980s, most fishing took place off Argentina and the Falkland Islands. When the Falkland Islands Government began to regulate foreign fisheries in 1987, the Bulgarians, imitating the Soviets, refused to apply for fishing licenses. In 1989, they reversed this position and began to purchase licenses and renew fishing operations off the Falklands. In the second fishing season'^ of 1989, the Falklands Government issued licenses to 9 large Bulgarian stern factory trawlers. They landed 9,000 tons of fish, or about 1 ,000 t per vessel; the harvest of blue whiting predominated (5,800 t). In 1990, they expanded their operations to 14 vessels and more than doubled the total catch to 22,100 t (or about 1,600 t per vessel), fishing both in the first and the second season. In 1991, the Bulgarians deployed just 8 vessels and fished only in the second season when the area is open for finfish operations, 191 but is closed for squid fishing. Nevertheless, the Bulgarian fishermen landed almost the same amount of fish as the previous year (appendix 6). In 1992, only 7 Bulgarian trawlers were granted licenses by the Falkland Islands Government. It is not known how many fishing days they spent on the grounds, but their catch was dismal; less than 9,000 tons. In 1993, the catch may be even smaller, as only 2 vessels have been issued licenses for the squid fisheries. Bulgarians have not fished for squid in the past (except for a small amount in 1990) and the entry into this fishery is probably an indication of their desire to earn foreign currencies. It is believed that for the second season of 1993, the Falklands may authorize 5 trawlers to fish for finfish, the same number as in 1992. Southeastern Atlantic (FAO area 47): The fishing grounds off Angola, Namibia, and the Republic of South Africa have been the most important fishing area of the Bulgarian industry from 1985 to 1989. The traditional catch of Bulgarian fishermen in that area amounted to about 43,000-45,000 tons per year, or more than one half of the total high- seas catch (appendix 5). In 1990 and 1991, however, this catch decreased sharply (by 80 percent) to only 8,500 t following the independence of Namibia and the subsequent moratorium on foreign fishing in its newly declared 200-mile zone. Fishing in this area is regulated by the International Commission for the Southeastern Atlantic Fisheries (ICSEAF), of which Bulgaria is a member. Southwest Pacific: In the early 1980s, the Bulgarians also fished off the coasts of Chile and Peru. The catch peaked at 25,000 tons in 1984, but was discontinued by 1986. Limited fishing was resumed in 1990 and 1991, yielding a small amount (1,700 t) of fish to what appears to be one stern factory trawler. rV. INLAND & BLACK SEA FISHERIES Inland fisheries catch (appendix 5) comes mostly from fish farming and reservoirs. River fishing is negligible. The fishery increased somewhat in the middle of the 1980s, peaking in 1986 at 14,100 tons, but has lately decreased to about 9,000 tons. It is one of the major providers of fresh fish to the population. The resources of the Black Sea (FAO statistical area 37) are extremely depleted and increasingly polluted; Bulgaria's recent levels of fisheries catch from these waters are less than a third of those harvested in the early 1980s and amounted to less than 3,000 tons in 1990/1991 (appendix 5). In recent years, the sprat fishery and trials of mussel culture could not be sustained because of pollution. In the absence of improvement of the Black Sea marine environment, the prospects for increased production in this fishery are unpromising. Serious measures must be implemented, both nationally and regionally, to manage Black Sea fisheries and to protect the stocks from further degradation, especially by working to reduce the discharge of pollutants into the Black Sea.'^ Along with the 10 trawlers of over 100 CRT mentioned in table 1 on page 2, a number of other, even smaller Bulgarian vessels also fish in the Black Sea from the ports of Varna, Nesebur, Sozopol and Burgas. 192 V. FISHING COMPANIES From its inception, the Bulgarian state heavily subsidized high-seas fishing operations, making it possible for the state- owned marine fisheries company, RIBNO STOPANSTVO, to expand and continue operating. From 1987-1990, fishery subsidies amounted to 112 million leva, or $18.7 million.''' After the communist regime was defeated in 1990 elections and free market principles introduced into the Bulgarian economy, RIBNO STOPANSTVO was declared bankrupt, and was forced to restructure itself in an attempt to become profitable.'^ At the end of 1990, RIBNO STOPANSTVO was divided into six state- owned fishing companies. The largest, the OKEANSKI RIBOLOV (Ocean Fisheries) Company, engages in high-seas fisheries. These companies face serious shortages of capital needed to upgrade and modernize their fleets. During the last few years, the Bulgarian fishing industry has been going through a difficult period of transition and adjustment caused partly by the loss of access to high-seas fishing grounds, and partly by the introduction of the market economy."' In 1991, OKEANSKI RIBOLOV experienced a major financial crisis. The increasing costs of operating its high-seas fleet (higher licensing fees, costlier diesel fuel, higher maintenance and repair costs abroad, etc.) and mismanagement (the company suffered a loss of 34 million leva in its sales department during January-July 1991) brought the company to the brink of bankruptcy. As in the past, the company's management requested that the Bulgarian Government extend a subsidy of 131 million leva to balance its books. The Government appointed a commission chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister, LUZHEV, to determine how the company, which employed about 2,000 persons, could be saved. According to the Bulgarian media' ^ the Commission advised that bilateral agreements be concluded with the (then) Soviet Union, Canada, the United States, Namibia, Angola, and the Falkland Islands to secure access to fishery resources. Such a solution was illusory as Canada and the United States no longer permitted foreign fishing and Namibia declared a fishing moratorium in its 200-mile zone. It was also noted that while domestic subsidies in leva made it possible for the company to earn hard currency, the latter failed to "find its way into the Bulgarian treasury". According to the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, the company concluded its 1992 business year with losses totaling 79.2 million leva (US$ 2.8 million). The losses continued in 1993, when, during the first quarter, the company lost 24.4 million leva. Faced with a shortage of available hard currency, an aging fleet, mounting debts, and decreasing domestic demand for fishery products caused by the difficult economic times in Bulgaria, OKEANSKI RIBOLOV recently declared bankruptcy. There was some hope that profitable joint ventures or infusion of foreign capital might prevent the liquidation of the company, but it now appears that any profits from joint venmres will not be sufficient to keep the company operating. The company's management hopes that it will be restructured and privatized as a limited liability company and shares will reportedly be offered for sale within the year. 193 VI. BILATERAL AGREEMENTS & JOINT VENTURES Argentina: Bulgaria deployed several large stern factory trawlers on the Patagonian Shelf in the Southwest Atlantic off Argentina along with the much larger Soviet fleet in 1967-77. The Bulgarian fleet was withdrawn, however, after Argentina declared a 200-mile zone in January 1967. Violent encounters between the Argentine Navy and Bulgarian fishermen hastened the withdrawal of the Bulgarian fleet.'* Bulgaria resumed fishing in the region in 1984 after the Falklands conflict forced the Argentine Navy to curtail its fishery enforcement patrols. Most of the Bulgarian fishing during 1984 and 1985 probably took place off the Falklands or off Argentina, but outside its 200-mile zone. The catch was primarily southern blue whiting and squid. In 1986, Argentina signed a bilateral fisheries agreement with Bulgaria permitting the Bulgarians access to the Argentine EEZ south of the 46th parallel; the Bulgarians were limited to the use of 6 vessels and a catch allocation of 60,000 t of fish. The Bulgarians never exploited the agreement to its full extent.'' For instance, in 1988 they caught only 42,000 t of fish. The Argentines reported major difficulties in their fishery relations with the Bulgarians in the late 1980s, charging specifically that the Bulgarians delayed buying semi-manufactured fishery products from Argentine shore processors as they were required to do under the terms of the agreement. ^° In 1989, when the bilateral fisheries agreement expired, the Argentine Government declined to renew it in response to Bulgarian noncompliance with its terms. ^' The Bulgarians have, however, continued to fish in the southwestern Atlantic, but outside Argentina's 200-mile zone. Their 1992 catch in that area is less than 25 percent (9,000 t) of what it used to be only 4 years ago (appendix 5). Chile: Bulgarian fishermen conducted some fishing operations off Chile during the 1970s and 1980s. This effort was deployed mostly outside Chile's 200-mile fisheries zone; the catch was jack mackerel. Falklands: The United Kingdom began to manage fisheries within the 150-mile Falkland Islands interim Conservation Zone (FICA) in 1987, and authorized the Falkland Islands government to begin licensing foreign fishermen. Initially, the Bulgarians, following the Soviet lead, did not purchase licenses to fish off the Falklands. After the Bulgarian communist government fell in 1989, however, Bulgarian fishermen began to buy licenses and fish off the Falklands. Russia/Former USSR: Bulgaria concluded three bilateral agreements with the former Soviet Union. The most important was the April 23, 1973, agreement on cooperation in the development of high-seas fishing (appendix 7). The two countries agreed to mumally support each other's high-seas fleets by supplying fuel and water, and to transport fishery products with each other's refrigerated transports. It was also agreed to cooperate in fisheries research, and training of fishery specialists, and to coordinate both countries' positions in international fishery organizations. The second agreement, concluded in October 1978, gave the Bulgarians the right to fish inside the 200-mile zone of the USSR in the Barents Sea under Soviet catch quotas and regulations. 194 The third agreement, concluded in April 1979, concerned the mutual catch of Black Sea anchovy and sprats in the territorial waters of both countries. According to Bulgarian officials, the agreements with the former USSR are being renegotiated with the Russian Federation, the successor state of the USSR. No final draft of an agreement has yet been concluded. ^^ In June 1990, a Soviet-Bulgarian joint venmre (J/V), SOZOPOL-Kamchatka, was created in the Russian Far Eastern city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka. The founders of the J/V were RIBNO STOPANSTVO (its successor in the venture is OKEANSKI RIBOLOV), and the Russian fisheries association, KAMCHATRYBPROM. The J/V leases the Bulgarian trawler Feniks to process fish delivered by Kamchatkan fishermen." In May 1993, the vessel was undergoing maintenance and minor repairs in the shipyard docks of Petropavlovsk- Kamchatskii.-'* It is rumored that the Bulgarians plan to sell the vessel to a Kamchatka company for hard currency. Ukraine: In September 1993, Bulgaria signed a 5-year fisheries cooperation agreement with Ukraine. The agreement provides for joint efforts in the transportation of fish, the construction of fishing and fishery support vessels, and the delivery of new and spare equipment. The 2 countries have also committed themselves to develop joint patents and standardization in their respective fishing industries.--*' The authors believe that this agreement is similar to the one concluded in 1973 with the Soviet Union. Furthermore, it is believed that the pending agreement with the Russian Federation will be similar. One of the potential advantages of this agreement will be that the Bulgarians will be able to repair and modernize its SIBIR-class fishery transport vessels in the Ukrainian shipyard where they were originally built. United Kingdom: In June 1993, OKEANSKI RIBOLOV signed a preliminary joint venture agreement for fishing and trading with the British company ABBOTSWELL. The British will provide the capital (US$ 2.5 million) for the project, while Bulgaria will provide 10 stern factory trawlers with Bulgarian crews to fish off the Falkland Islands and Scotland.'** If successful, this joint venture will secure the deployment of one half of the Bulgarian high- seas fishing fleet and employ 500 Bulgarian fishermen. This is the second agreement that OKEANSKI RIBOLOV has signed with this British company. In October 1992, the J/V negotiated with ABBOTSWELL permitted 4 Bulgarian trawlers to fish off the coast of Greenland. This fishery continued in 1993.^^ United States: Bulgaria signed a 5-year Governing International Fisheries Agreement (GIFA) with the United States which lasted from February 1977 to July 1983; it was then extended for another 5 years until 1988. The Bulgarian fishermen, however, were not allocated any catch quotas, nor did they conclude any joint ventures with U.S. companies, and the GIFA expired on July 1, 1988.-** VIL EMPLOYMENT In the Bulgarian high-seas fishing fleet, an estimated 1 ,200 fishermen are working aboard the 19 stern factory trawlers, while about 600 persons are employed on the 5 support baseships and about 200 persons constimte administrative and other support personnel. This total is less than half of the 5,600 195 employees which the company had in 1989, at the end of the Zhivkov regime.^' In April 1991, FAO reported the total employment in the primary (fishermen) sector of the fishing industry at 7,100 persons. The high-seas fleet represented about 5,000 of this total, while the employment in the Black Sea fisheries was estimated at about 2,000 persons.^*' The FAO source has no information on how many employees there may be in the secondary (fish processing) sector. The rapid decrease in employment in the fishing sector is having a severe effect on the local economies of Burgas and Varna, the two cities where the fishing industry is concentrated. An additional problem is that many capable Bulgarian fishing captains and officers have accepted employment on vessels owned by other countries.^' VIII. TRADE AND CONSUMPTION Bulgaria exported 47,000 metric tons of fishery products in 1989, about one half of its fisheries catch (appendix 8). The rest was sold on domestic markets. This is the same ratio as in 1985, but because fishery imports have dwindled to almost nothing in 1989, the available supply of fishery products per person decreased about 30 percent to only 6.2 kg from 8.7 kg in 1985. The large production of fishmeal in 1985 (44,400 tons, according to FAO") became non-existent in 1989. The importation of this commodity also decreased greatly from 146,000 t in 1985 to only 81 ,000 t in 1989, or by 55 percent. The presumed cause is a lack of foreign currencies. The effect on the local cattle and hog industries could be severe. More recent information is not available. IX. SHIPYARDS In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Ilya Boyadzhiev shipyard in Burgas on the Black Sea coast constructed a series of small refrigerated trawlers of the SHUSH VE class; the first such vessel was launched in February 1968. Several of these vessels were constructed under contract for the former Soviet fishing fleets to be used in the North and Baltic Seas." Details on the current activities of Bulgarian shipyards building fishery vessels, their names or locations, are not known. X. OUTLOOK The outlook for the Bulgarian high-seas fishing industry is bleak. The lack of rapid privatization after the demise of the communist regime prolonged the inbred inefficiency of the large government-owned corporation. The high-seas fishing company, OKEANSKI RIBOLOV. has been forced into bankruptcy and there is little hope that the current Bulgarian Government will bail it out. The fisheries catch has been reduced to a point where its proceeds cannot assure the profitability of high-seas operations. Recently concluded joint venmres with foreign companies have been profitable, but they have not been sufficient to enable the company to pay off its large debt and restrucmre itself into a streamlined private enterprise. Since much of the Bulgarian high-seas catch has traditionally been sold abroad for foreign currencies, the effect of the diminishing catch on the domestic supply of fishery products is not particularly severe. Bulgaria has 196 previously supplied its citizens with imported fish. However, because of the decreasing value of the leva and the discontinuation of government subsidies for foreign fishery imports, prices for imported fish have risen to the point where the average Bulgarian can no longer afford it. The 1989 import level of almost 30,000 t of fishery products was reduced to only 6,000 t in 1992. U.S. Embassy, Sofia. Personal Communication. 29 September 1993. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 26 July 1993. In addition, Bulgaria has no oil resources and its high-seas fleet would have been hard hit by the oil crises of 1973 and 1979 without the cheap deliveries of oil from the former Soviet Union. However, with the dissolution of the USSR, Russian oil prices have been increasing steadily and are now approaching world levels; the payment is now demanded in hard currencies. The need to buy expensive diesel fuel diminishes the profitability of the fleet and will have a negative impact even if the state-owned fleet is privatized since the fuel costs may represent as much as 40-50 percent of the revenues earned from the sale of the catch. The future of the Bulgarian high-seas fisheries is in jeopardy. It cannot be excluded that, faced with large operational losses in the past, the Bulgarian Government will abandon distant-water fisheries and liquidate its fleet. SOURCES FAO. Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria. Rome, April 1991. FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, various years. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables. London, various years. 197 ENDNOTES 1. This was equivalent to 120 million leva at the exchange rate prevailing at the time of 6 Bulgarian leva to 1 U.S. dollar. 2. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria, Rome, April 1991. 3. T.K. Ivanov, "Bulgarian High Sea Fishery: Present and Future." Published in The First East-West Fisheries Conference, 20-22 May 1993, St. Petersburg, Russia, (Agra Europe, Ltd. London), 1993, p. 13. 4. T.K. Ivanov, "Bulgarian High Sea Fishery: Present and Future," Op. cit. 5. FAO, Personal Communication, 21 July 1993; U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), 26 July 1993. 6. FAO, Personal Communication, 21 July 1993. 7. The 5 TROPIK class trawlers were scrapped in Varna, Bulgaria, and in Pakistan. 8. The MAYAKOVSKII-class stem trawler (Lebed) was scrapped in April 1986 at Eleisis, Greece. 9. The disposition of the 6 ATLANTIK-class stem trawlers is not known. 10. U.S. Embassy, Sofia, 29 September 1993. The Kondor reportedly sank after hitting a rock. The location of the sinking in the Atlantic was not precisely identified, but it may have been off West Africa where the vessel was fishing on its prior trips. 11. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria, Rome, April 1991. 12. The "second season" begins in June of each year and lasts until the end of November. 13. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria, Rome, April 1991. 14. The 1990 exchange rate was US$ 1=6 Bulgarian leva. 15. Duma (Sofia), 21 October 1991, pp. 1-2. 16. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria, Rome, April 1991. 17. Duma (Sofia), 21 October 1991, pp. 1-2. 18. "Shelled Trawler Rescued," Japan Times, 4 October 1977; "Argentina Opens Fire on Two Fishing Vessels," Japan Times, 2 October 1977. 19. U.S. Embassy, Buenos Aires, 22 August 1993. 20. "Luz Rojo Para el Acuerdo Biilgaro," Redes, No. 42, 1989. 21. "Fishing Agreement with Bulgaria Suspended," Buenos Aires DYN, 2 March 1989. 198 22. U.S. Embassy, Sofia, 29 September 1993. The 1979 agreement is apparently no longer valid since the Bulgarians are no longer permitted to fish inside the Russian 200-mile zone in the Barents Sea. The Bulgarian fishermen, however, continue to fish in the Barents Sea, but in its international waters. 23. V.V. Revnivtsev, "Poisk Optimarnoi Strukturi SP," Rybnoe Khoziaistvo (Moscow), No. 1, 1993. Although the Russian source specifically mentions that the Feniks only "receives and processes the fish from Kamchatkan fishermen," Bulgarian catch statistics, provided by OKEANSKI RIBOLOV, show a 1991 and 1992 catch of Alaska pollock (803 t in 1991 and 410 1 in 1992). The Alaska pollock could only have been caught in the Russian 200-mile zone or the nearby international waters of the "peanut hole", since the species is only harvested in the North Pacific. The FAO statistics for Bulgaria, however, show no Alaska pollock catch for those years. The discrepancy could not be explained with available data. 24. Pari (Sofia), 12 May 1993. 25. U.S. Embassy, Sofia, 29 September 1993. 26. "UK/Bulgarian Joint Fishing Venture," Eurofish Report, 15 July 1993. 27. U.S. Embassy, Sofia, 29 September 1993. 28. National Marine Fisheries Service, Fisheries of the United States, Washington, D.C., various years. 29. Todor Ivanov, Managing Director of OKEANSKI RIBOLOV, Personal Communication, September 1993. 30. FAO, Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria. Rome, April 1991. 31. 24 Chasa (Sofia), 21 June 1993. 32. This figure is probably wrong as 44,000 tons of fishmeal would convert into a 220,000 t catch. The Bulgarian total fisheries catch that year was only 100,200 tons. 33. Zemedebko Zname (Sofia), 31 March 1965; Transporten Glas, February 1968. 199 Appendix 1. Bulgaria. Delivery of large high-seas fishery vessels, by year built, niter, class, gross registered tonnage, and cointry of construction; 1964-90. Vessel type/Y. ear Nunbei r Class CRT Country bui It FISHING TRAWLERS 1964 1 TROPIK 2,640 GDR 1965 2 TROPIK 5,280 GOR 1966 2 TROPIK 5,280 GDR 1967 3 HAYAKOVSKII 9,510 USSR 1968 4 ATLANTIK 10,628 GDR 1969 3 ATLANTIK 7,971 GDR 1970 3 ATLANTIK 7,971 GDR 1971 2 ATLANTIK 5,314 GDR 1974 5 KALMAR 12,240 Poland 1975 4 KALHAR 9,792 Poland 1988 1 PULKOVSKII 4,407 USSR 1990 1 31 ZHELEZNYAKOV 726 81,759 USSR FISHERY SUPPORT 1968 1 SIBIR 4,942 USSR 1969 2 SIBIR 9,884 USSR 1970 1 SIBIR 4,942 USSR 1972 1 5 SIBIR 4.942 24,710 USSR GRAND TOTAL = 36 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 106,469 GRT Sources: U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 26 July 1993; Milan Kravanja, NMFS, Personal Conmunication, 1 October 1993 (for the years 1964-67). Note: All 5 TROPIKs, 1 HAYAKOVSKII, and 6 out of the 12 ATLANTIKs were decomnissioned and are currently not on the Bulgarian fishing fleet register. 200 Appendix 2. Bulgaria. Fishing fleet. by class, vessel nane. gross registered tonnage, , and cointry and year of construction; 1993. Construction Class/Vessel name GRT Count rv Year NIGH-SEAS FLEET ATLANTIK- 6 vessels Limoza 2,657 GOR 1970 Lorna 2,657 GOR 1970 Melanita 2,657 GDR 1969 Pingvin 2,657 GDR 1968 Rail da 2,657 GDR 1970 Zikloniya 2,657 GDR 1970 KALMAR (B-418)- 9 vessels Afala 2,448 Poland 1974 Aktinia 2,467 Poland 1974 Alfeus 2,448 Poland 1974 Argonavt 2,448 Poland 1974 Fizalia 2,448 Poland 1975 Kaprela 2,448 Poland 1975 Ofelia 2,448 Poland 1975 Rotalia 2,448 Poland 1975 Sagita 2,448 Poland 1974 MAYAKOVSKII- 2 vessels Balkan 3,170 USSR 1967 Fregata 3,170 USSR 1967 PULKOVSKII MERIDIAN- 1 vessel Feniks 4,407 USSR 1988 SIBIR- 5 vessels Albena 5,942 USSR 1970 Kiten 5,942 USSR 1972 Lazuren Briag 5,942 USSR 1969 Slantchev Briag 5,942 USSR 1968 Zlatni Piasatzi 5,942 USSR 1969 ZHELEZNYAKOV- 1 vessel R/KI 726 USSR 1990 COASTAL FLEET BALTIKA- 5 vessels K 37 117 USSR 1990 K 38 117 USSR 1990 K 39 117 USSR 1990 K 40 117 USSR 1990 K 41 117 USSR 1990 CLASS UNKNOWN- 5 vessel s RK 14 140 Germany 1965 RK 15 140 Germany 1965 RK 16 140 Germany 1965 RK 17 140 Germany 1965 RK 35 117 USSR 1985 TOTAL = 34 Vessels High-seas: 24 Coastal: 10 TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 80,438 GRT High-seas GRT: 79,176 Coastal GRT: 1,262 Source: U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 26 July 1993. 201 Appendix 3. Bulgaria. Number of high-seas fishing and fishery support vessels, 1975-92. Year Fishing Support Total Number of vessels 1975 28 5 33 1976 30 5 35 1977 30 5 35 1978 30 5 35 1979 30 5 35 1980 30 5 35 1981 29 5 34 1982 29 5 34 1983 29 5 34 1984 29 5 34 1985 28 5 33 1986 28 5 33 1987 28 5 33 1988 28 5 33 1989 28 5 33 1990 23 5 28 1991 22 5 27 1992 21 5 26 Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, London, various years. 202 Appendix 4. Bulgaria. Gross registered tonnage of high-seas fishing and fishery support vessels; 1975-92. Vpar Total ITichina Support 1,000 Gross Tons 1975 72.2 28.9 101.1 1976 77.2 28.9 106.1 1977 77.4 28.9 106.3 1978 77.4 28.9 106.3 1979 77.4 28.9 106.3 1980 77.4 28.9 106.3 1981 75.4 28.9 104.3 1982 75.4 28.9 104.3 1983 75.4 28.9 104.3 1984 75.4 28.9 104.3 1985 73.0 28.9 101.9 1986 73.0 28.9 101.9 1987 73.0 28.9 101.9 1988 73.0 28.9 101.9 1989 73.0 28.9 101.9 1990 60.2 28.9 89.1 1991 55.6 28.9 84.5 1992 52.4 28.9 81.3 Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, London, various years. 203 Appendix 5. Bulgaria. Inland, coastal, and distant-water fisheries catch, by FAO statistical areas; 1975, 1980, and 1985-1992. Fishing Area Year 1975 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1.000 Met ric tons Inland (05) 7.8 12.4 11.9 14.1 12.9 12.2 12.1 8.5 8.5 N/A Coastal(37) 8.6 17.9 17.1 13.0 12.2 8.2 8.6 2.9 2.9 N/A Distant Uater 21 28.1 1.1 - - - - - 1.9 1.9 N/A 27 36.4 9.2 7.7 12.1 13.5 10.8 5.7 4.0 4.0 N/A 34 45.6 49.8 - - - - - 0.5 0.5 N/A 41 - - 17.8 20.9 22.8 42.1 31.9 28.1 21.9 9.0 47 31.6 19.1 43.5 49.0 49.4 43.8 43.7 8.5 8.5 N/A 48 - 1.2 - 0.2 - - - - - N/A 87 Subtotal 141.7 15.6 96.0 2.3 71.3 82.2 85.7 96.7 81.3 1.7 44.7 1.7 38.5 N/A 27.2(E) Percentage* 89.6 75.9 71.2 75.2 77.4 82.6 79.7 79.7 77.2 N/A Total 158.1 126.4 100.2 109.3 110.7 117.1 102.0 56.1 49.9 N/A Sources: FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings: Rome, various years. The 1992 estimate was obtained from the U.S. Embassy in Sofia in September 1992. * High-seas fisheries catch as a percentage of the total catch. E - Estimated N/A - Not available Note: The totals may not add because of rounding. Appendix 6. Bulgaria. Fisheries catch off the Falklands Island, by species and quantity; 1988-92. Year Species 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 (Metric tons) Hake 122 85 59 - Blue Whiting , 5,820 18,998 20,311 8,938 Hoki 796 878 40 44 Squid - 333* - - Other : 2.327 1.768 1.479 -__ Total** 9,069 22,099 21,888 8,981 Source: Falklands Fisheries Department, 1993. * Includes 328 tons of illex and 5 tons of loligo. ** Totals may not agree because of rounding. 204 APPENDIX 7 AGREEMENT ON COOPERATION BETWEEN THE USSR AND THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BULGARIA IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF OCEAN FISHING The Government of the USSR and the Government of the People's Republic of Bulgaria, noting the successes scored in the exercise of cooperation between the USSR and Bulgaria in the development of ocean fishing, Guided by the relations and friendship and close cooperation which exist between the USSR and Bulgaria and Proceeding from the assignments set in the Comprehensive Program of the Continued Extension and Improvement of Cooperation and Development of the Socialist Economic Integration of the CEMA Countries, Have signed this agreement as follows: Article I The contracting parties agree to cooperate in the development of the two countries' ocean fishing in accordance with the provisions of this agreement. Article II To this end the contracting parties will instruct their competent organizations: a) to provide for the delivery, in compliance with the principle of mutual compensation, of fish and fish products to Soviet and Bulgarian ports by passing runs of Soviet and Bulgarian transport refrigerator ships, which will operate to schedules agreed between the parties' competent organizations; b) to practice on agreed terms cooperation in the production of certain fishing implements and parts of their tackle and certain types of fishing and fish-processing equipment and parts thereof; c) to render in individual instances at sea mutual assistance with certain types of fishing and fish-processing equipment and spares and also to render individual mutual packaging material preparation services; d) to practice the coordination of their efforts in international fishing organizations and also in the development of bilateral relations with third countries for ensuring the efficient operation of Soviet and Bulgarian fishing craft with regard to the interests of Soviet and Bulgarian fishing; e) to adopt measures for the exercise of cooperation in the sphere of the maintenance of fishing craft by way, specifically, of the development of ship-repair capacity and also ship spare production plants. Article III In accordance with Article I, the competent organizations of the two contracting parties will: practice close coordination and cooperation in the work of research and planning and design organization on issues and problems of interest to the parties; exchange experience in the field of the planning of fish industry, invention and efficiency promotion activity and patenting and standardization and also exchange published information on the fish industry; and 205 practice the mutual exchange of production forms and records and new models of fishing implements and fishing and fish-processing equipment and also production records pertaining to the production of new types of fish products. The contracting parties' cooperation organization will be guided here by the "Procedure for the Exercise of S&T Cooperation Between the USSR and the People's Republic of Bulgaria" adopted by the ninth session of the Standing Subcommission for S&T Cooperation Between the USSR and Bulgaria on 19 December 1968. Article IV The Government of the USSR will ensure that Soviet organizations render Bulgarian organizations technical assistance in the further development of ocean fishing and the training of fish industry personnel. Technical assistance will be rendered by way of: the inclusion of Bulgarian fishing craft in Soviet fishing expeditions, their provision with fuel and water and the granting of the necessary scientific-industrial information and also Bulgarian specialists' participation in the work of departmental industrial coordination meetings held by competent organizations of the Soviet party and determining the deployment of the fishing craft and support for their operation at sea; the assignment to Bulgaria of Soviet specialists to assist in the training of fish industry personnel and the acceptance in the USSR of Bulgarian citizens for instruction and industrial training at seafaring schools, on ships and at enterprises and in research and planning and design organizations. Article V The terms and the extent of the rendering of the technical assistance envisaged in Article IV of this agreement will be determined in contracts which will be concluded between themselves by competent organizations of the contracting parties. Article VI The assigiunent of Soviet specialists to Bulgaria and the acceptance of Bulgarian citizens in the USSR provided for in Article IV of this treaty will be effected in numbers and specialties and for periods agreed by the parties in accordance with the 8 April 1957 Agreement Between the Government of the USSR and the Bulgarian Government on the Conditions of the Assignment of Soviet Specialists to Bulgaria and Bulgarian Specialists to the USSR for Technical Assistance and Other Services and the 8 April 1957 Agreement Between the Government of the USSR and the Bulgarian Government on the Conditions of the Industrial-Engineering Training of Soviet and Bulgarian Specialists and Workers. Article VII The contracting parties will appoint their representatives, who will meet as necessary on the territory of each party in turn to elaborate specific measures pertaining to implementation of this agreement. Article VIII The provisions of this agreement do not affect the contracting parties' rights and obligations ensuing from current bilateral and multilateral fishing agreements. Article IX 206 This agreement will take effect as of the date it is signed and will as of this date replace the Agreement on the USSR's Rendering of the People's Republic of Bulgaria Technical Assistance in the Development of Ocean Fishing Signed on 21 November 1968. Article X This agreement has been concluded for the term of 8 years. It will remain in force for each of the 5 subsequent years unless either contracting party denounce it no later than 6 months prior to the expiration of the 5-year period. This agreement may be altered at the parties' mutual consent. DONE in Burgas on 23 April 1973 in two copies, each in Russian and Bulgarian, both copies, furthermore, being of equal validity. (Signatures follow) 207 Appendix 8. Bulgaria. Sif^ply of edible and non-edible fishery products and per capita consiaption of fishery products; 1985 and 1989. Year 1985 Edible Catch Imports Exports Total supply Per capita consimption (1,000 metric tons) 1989 78.2 38.2 38.0 78.4 8.7 kg 102.0 0.3 46.7 55.6 6.2 kg 81.0 81.0 Non-Edible Production 44.4* Imports 146.0 Total supply 190.4 Source: FAQ. Fishery Country Profile. Bulgaria. Ronfie, April 1991. * This figure is probably a mistake (See endnote 29 for details). 208 4.3 POLAND The Polish fishing industry, which expanded its operations into the world's oceans in the 1960s and 1970s, is currently in a state of severe crisis. Fishery landings, which peaked in 1975 at 800,000 metric tons, have decreased to only 514,000 tons in 1992. Once numerous fishing grounds of the Polish high-seas fleet have now shrunk to a major fishery in the Pacific Northwest and two smaller fishing operations off the Falkland Islands and in Antarctica. The Pacific fishery, however, is in danger of being closed down by insistent Russian demands for a fishing moratorium to prevent overfishing. Limited fishing opportunities have forced the Polish companies to reduce the number of their vessels; during the last 7 years these companies sold 48 vessels to fishermen from 13 other countries. Only 53 stern trawlers are now engaged in high-seas fishing and their number is expected to continue decreasing. The Polish fishing industry, accustomed to substantial financial subsidies from the government, and to regulated prices for fishery products, has had to learn to do without them. Price regulation ended in 1989 and most subsidies were discontinued in 1990. The entry into a partially free-market system has caused severe problems for both high-seas and Baltic fishing companies which now have to rely almost exclusively on market forces to survive in a highly competitive environment. CONTENTS I. Background 210 II. Fishing Fleet 213 A. High-seas Fleet 215 B. Fleet Reduction 215 C. Construction of Fishing Vessels 216 D. Subsidies 217 E. Competition 218 III. High-seas Fishery Catch 218 IV. High-seas Fishing Grounds 220 V. High-seas Fishing Companies 221 VI. Fisheries Administration 223 VII. Bilateral Agreements 224 VIII. Joint Ventures 227 IX. Outlook 228 Sources 229 Endnotes 230 Appendices 235 I. BACKGROUND The Republic of Poland, a northern East European country, bordering on Czechoslovakia, Germany, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia (at Kaliningrad Oblast) had over 38 million inhabitants as of July 1992. It covers a total area of 312,680 square kilometers (slightly smaller than New Mexico), and its coastline extends along the Baltic Sea for 491 kilometers. It has 4 major fishery ports on the Baltic Sea - Gdansk, Gdynia, Szczecin, and Swinoujscie. Baltic catch 20.4% \ Inland catch \ 9.9% High-seas catc 69.7% Total catch = 514,000 metric tons Figure 1. Poland. Fisheries catch, by percent of total; 1992. Although the fishing industry in Poland is an important provider of food and a significant earner of hard currencies, it is not a large component of the national economy. The Polish Marine Fisheries Institute (MIR) in Gdynia estimated that in 1992 only about 0.3 percent of the gross national product was contributed by the fisheries sector.' In the maritime provinces, however, fisheries and its supporting branches of the economy (shipbuilding, trade, etc.) play a leading role and provide employment to a large segment of the population, often in locations where no other employment opportunities exist. In 1992, almost 32,000 persons were employed in Polish fisheries, yet this represented only 0.2 percent of total employment.- The per capita consumption of fishery products is about 6 kilograms.^ Consumption is expected to increase, mainly because of herring and mackerel fishery imports, but also because the Polish herring and mackerel catch is now being processed by private, competing companies which package it attractively to appeal to more consumers." In 1992, the total Polish fisheries catch was 514,000 metric tons (t), most of which was harvested on the high-seas (figure 1). Before World War II and in the early 1950s, the Baltic catch represented the entire Polish catch, but by 1992 it had been reduced to 105,000 t, or about 20 percent of the total, while the high-seas catch (358,500 t) had grown to 70 percent of the total. The inland catch (51,000 t in 1992), although never a substantial part of the overall catch, has been increasing steadily since 1980 when only 18,700 t were harvested. In 1989, following the adoption of a democratic political system and movement toward a free-market economy, changes began to be implemented in the Polish fishing industry. The previous subsidies' and fixed prices for fishery products were abandoned, a liberal policy based on market forces was introduced, and foreign trade barriers were abolished.* 210 In May 1990, the Government began a program to privatize state-owned fishery enterprises to reduce unit costs and increase economic efficiency. It was envisioned that fishery enterprises would divide, downsize, or transform themselves into profitable independent companies.^ n. FISHING FLEET In July 1993, the Polish fishing fleet consisted of 300 vessels with a total capacity of 276,000 GRT (table 1). Of this total, 85 vessels having over 250,000 GRT, or about 91 percent of the total fleet tonnage, were engaged in high-seas operations. The smaller Table 1. Poland. Fishing fleet, by selected vessel capacity. 1993. Capacity Number GRT Average GRT 100-500 GRT Above 500 GRT TOTAL 215 85 300 25.502 250,685 276.287 119 2,949 921 Source US Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 27 July 1993 vessels (100-500 GRT) are mostly cutters fishing in the Baltic Sea. In addition, over 200 small vessels below 100 GRT capacity also fished the Baltic. Lloyd's of London lists, in its latest statistical tables for June 1992, the same number of 85 high-seas fishery vessels (appendix 1) and divides them into 73 high- seas fishing and 12 fishery support units. Fishing vessels are shown by gross tonnage in appendix 2. The statistics show clearly the elimination of smaller side trawlers in the 500-999 GRT range from 67 units in 1975 to only 4 units by June 1992. Similarly, the number of medium-sized trawlers (1,000- 1,999 GRT range) was less than a half of those deployed in 1975 (12 units compared to 27 units). Although the number of large stern factory trawlers remained fairly constant over the last two decades (50 in 1975 and 56 in 1992) their number fluctuated greatly. It increased from 1975 to 1977 by 22 units, or by almost 50 percent. One must suppose that, encouraged by the ever-increasing fisheries catch which peaked in 1975 at 800,000 metric tons, Polish fishing companies ordered 2 dozen new stern trawlers to join in the distant-water fishing expansion. When the extensions to 200-mile fishery zones occurred in 1976 and 1977, it was probably too late to stop the orders from the shipyards. The reality had to be faced, however, and in 1978, only 3 trawlers were added and none in 1979. The high-seas trawler fleet remained constant for a few years and then began to decrease slowly until 1985. Because replacements were built in the late 1980s, the total number of stern trawlers remained the same. Poland's fishery support vessels were originally built in the 1960s, but their modernization and constant replacement kept the number at about 10 units. A strong building program in 1988-89 increased their number to 13 (appendices 3 and 4). For the last few years, however, Lloyd's statistics have become unreliable. The changes in the Polish (and probably other East European fleets) are occurring so rapidly and unpredictably that information is not flowing quickly enough to be registered in time. The OECD statistics show much lower numbers of Polish stern trawlers in both 1990 (77 units) and 1991 (65 units) as can be seen in appendix 4. 213 Photo 1. Poland built 11 large stern factory trawlers of tlie KALMAR class (2,400GRT) for its distant- water fishing operations. These data were confirmed by official Polish statistics which were received through the U.S. Embassy in Warsaw only a few days before the final draft was typed. They show that, at the end of 1992, the Polish fleet of high-seas vessels numbered 66 units (appendix 5). Among these were 34 fishery vessels having over 2,500 gross registered tons. If we deduct from this figure the 13 fishery transport and processing vessels listed in appendix 6^ we obtain the actual number of Polish stern factory trawlers at the end of 1992 - 52 units. The authors have described this somewhat confusing process of analysis to point out that the various sources, though highly reliable in most cases, may not be fully trusted in the case of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics. The only foolproof statistics are those released by the respective Governments. We were fortunate to have the excellent cooperation of the Polish Ministry of Transportation and Maritime Economy in obtaining the statistics listed in appendices 5 and 6. Unfortunately, this was not the case in any other country covered in this volume. The Polish high-seas fleet is completely separated from the operations of the Baltic fleet. They have no impact on each other and are also administered separately. The high- seas fleet is owned by three state-owned companies which do not have any operations in the Baltic (as is the case in. some of the other Baltic states). 214 A. High-seas Fishing Fleet The Polish high-seas fishing fleet numbered 66 units in 1992. Of this total, 53 units were fishing vessels (appendix 7). The remaining 13 units were used for transporting harvested fish (appendix 8). A complete list of vessel names, classes, gross registered tonnage (CRT), and country and year of construction is presented in appendices 7 and 8." Most fishing vessels are large stern factory trawlers having in excess of 2,000 and even 3,000 gross tons (photo 1). The 13 various classes of trawlers (appendix 7 lists them alphabetically) were all built in Poland. The country's shipyards rapidly developed the capability to build large high-seas trawlers after Poland entered distant-water fisheries in the late 1950s. Polish shipyards eventually supplied fishery vessels not only to the Soviet Union, but also to Romania, Bulgaria, and even West European countries. The high-seas fishery transport and processing vessels were also built in Polish shipyards, except the first one (the Harmattan), which was bought in Germany in 1966. Appendix 8 shows that the TERRAL class of refrigerated transports, built in the early 1980s, had a gross tonnage half the size of the ZULAWI class built in the 1970s, but the 2 KOCIEWIE-class baseships, constructed in 1986-87, again had a gross tonnage exceeding 8,800 tons. The fishery transport fleet played an important role in the expansion into high-seas fishing grounds from Polish ports as they made possible the delivery of supplies, fuel, water, and the transportation of frozen fish and other fishery products. '° A recent report indicates that their deployment in supporting the high-seas fleet has been greatly reduced, but it gives no details of activities in which they are engaged." The entire Polish high-seas fishing fleet was constructed in domestic shipyards, and the majority of these vessels are 15-25 years old.'- Only 23 vessels (out of a total of 300) were purchased abroad. Their gross tonnage of 7,170 CRT, is less than 3 percent of the total fishery tonnage built in Poland during the last 35 years (appendix 9). The replacement of aged factory trawlers with new, more efficient vessels is the most important task for the Polish fishing industry if it is to remain economically viable in the 1990s.'^ B. Fleet Reduction The Polish fleet is plagued by overcapacity and obsolescence. Many high- seas vessels are 20-30 years old which limits considerably their future usefulness. By the year 2000, most will have to be retired.'* Over the past few years, Poland has been decommissioning vessels fairly steadily. From a report published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, it is evident how rapid this process has been. From 1990 to 1991, Poland has decommissioned 13 high-seas vessels totalling 28,000 CRT." The reflagging of Polish high-seas fishing and fishery support vessels is accelerating. During the past 2 years, a total of 28 vessels were re flagged to 12 countries (table 2). The names, gross tonnage, and the year of construction are given in appendix 10. There are many reasons for reflagging, but time does not permit the authors to analyze them at this time.'* 215 Table 2 Poland Fishery vessels ref lagged to other countries. by country and number Country Number of Vessels Panama 4 China 3 Cyprus 3 Argentina 3 Germany 3 Nngena 2 Honduras 2 Malta 2 St. Vincent 2 Liberia 1 Russia 1 Norway 1 Unknown 1 Total 28 The replacement or modernization of distant-water vessels and equipment is hindered by the current financial condition of the Polish high-seas fishing companies. Only DALMOR possesses sufficient financial resources to begin the replacement of processing equipment. ODRA's financial situation, and especially that of the GRYF company, is poor. The general opinion in Poland is that the fleet cannot be replaced without considerable support from the country's budget which would provide the initial capital and/or low interest credits. The idea has been discussed by the Polish parliamentary committee dealing with fisheries and has also been presented to the Prime Minister. Lobbying for its implementation are the shipbuilding interests which hope to get the orders for the new modern high-seas fishing vessels.'^ in 1992, a total of 14 vessels have been sold to foreign buyers while no new high-seas trawlers were built in domestic shipyards or purchased abroad. Of the 14 vessels sold, 2 were the large motherships of the GRYF POMORSKI class. These were the last 2 motherships the Polish high-seas fleet still owned; their combined tonnage was 27,000 gross registered tons. The remaining 12 deregistered trawlers were stern factory trawlers. Two of these trawlers were sold to China which is expanding its high-seas operations; five were purchased by German companies and one was sold to the United Kingdom. Between 1985-92, a total of 48 used Polish fishing vessels were sold with a total gross tonnage of over 85,000 tons.'* C. Construction of Fishing Vessels Beginning in the mid-1960s, the Polish shipbuilding industry was relatively strong. The construction of fishery vessels was oriented not only toward domestic demand, but also toward exports to some 20 countries. In the 1990s, however, vessel construction began to decline as a result of overcapitalization in the Baltic fishery and a lack of orders from EC countries. In 1990, Polish shipyards built 19 fishing vessels with a total gross tonnage of 18,475 tons, but, by 1992, this output had decreased to 1 vessel with 143 GRT (appendices 11 and 12). All programs encouraging fishing vessel construction have been abandoned and instead, because of the overcapacity of the Polish fishing fleet, efforts are being made to sell off or scrap existing vessels." Poland has 5 shipyards building small, medium, and large trawlers (table 3). The total employment in these shipyards in 1991 was over 19,000 workers, but it is likely that by 1993 this total had shrunk considerably. The Gdansk Shipyard continues to build fisheries support vessels, but has difficulties selling them. For instance, a large fishery mothership was built for the DALMOR high- seas company; however, in view of the uncertainty surrounding Polish high-seas fishing, DALMOR refused to pay for it. The 216 Table 3. Poland. Shipyards building fishery vessels and the number of persons employed; 1993. Name Employnient* Type of Vessel Stocznia Gdanska 7.945 Stoczma Gdynia Stocznia Polnocna Stocznia Ustka Stoczma Wisla Total 6.689 3,183 788 738 19.343 Stern trawlers Motherships Stern trawlers Trawlers Small trawlers Small trawlers Source Budnownictwe Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska. September -October. 1993. * Employment given is for 1991. Director General of the Gdansk Shipyard (Hans Szyc) had talics with German interests in an effort to sell the vessel elsewhere, but it is not known if these negotiations have been successful. "'' The importation of fishing vessels from abroad is nonexistent because of the overcapitalization in the Baltic fisheries and because the Polish shipyards could easily satisfy the demand for high-seas vessels. Any Polish company wishing to import fishing vessels would have to pay a 5 percent import duty and also scrap an old vessel before purchasing another one. No fishing vessels were imported in 1992 or 1993.-' D. Subsidies The fishing industry of Poland has, in addition to supplying fishery proteins to the domestic markets, also acted as an important earner of hard foreign currency. Because of this export function, the Polish state-owned companies (which provided 88 percent of all fishery landings) were heavily subsidized by the Government from the general budget. ^^ programs supporting fishing vessel construction were suspended after 1990. Price regulation schemes had been abandoned even earlier in 1989. Private or state-owned enterprises must rely exclusively on market forces. The following programs, however, still receive support from the Polish Government: 1) repair and maintenance of fishing harbors; 2) vocational schools, training sea-going personnel; and 3) scientific research related to fisheries management. ^^ Government subsidies to the Polish fishing industry were a powerful stimulus for the rapid development of its fishing fleet and the resulting increase in fisheries catch. The ever-increasing influx of fishery products brought back by Polish fishermen from the proverbial seven seas, would probably have depressed prices severely had it not been for the artificial propping up of prices set and controlled by the government. As in the Soviet Union, in the final analysis, it was the housewife buying a kilogram of fish at the local store that financed the extravagant fishery investments in the 1950s and 1960s. Moreover, state-owned fishing enterprises (and shipyards as well) were given direct subsidies from the state budget, i.e., the taxpayers' pockets. When the landings started to decrease and the losses began to increase in the 1970s and 1980s, it was from the government's budget that the fisheries sector obtained its survival funds. Some subsidies are still provided to fishing companies to help them restructure and resolve their most pressing financial problems, but the amounts granted and other details are not available. After the political changes in 1990, these subsidies were drastically reduced. All 217 E. Competition Increasing competition for domestic markets has caused considerable anxiety among Polish fishermen and erupted into organized protests on April 5, 1993. Following in the footsteps of their West European colleagues, they blockaded Polish fishing ports demanding that the Polish Government abolish taxes on diesel fuel used by fishing vessels, introduce higher customs duties on imports of cheap fishery products from Russia and the Baltic countries, and reintroduce a system of price support payments to domestic producers. A few days later, Polish fishermen and the Seamen's Union (a Solidarity union) prevented Russian vessels from entering Polish ports to sell their Baltic herring catch at a fraction of the local price demanded by Polish fishermen.-'* Finally, on April 13, union members imposed a boycott of all foreign fishery imports to last until the Government accepts the fishermen's demands. Polish vessels and led to the under-utilization of the fleet. In addition, the inability of the three Polish high-seas fishery companies to generate sufficient profits to modernize and replace their fleets has caused a steady decrease in the efficiency of the Polish high- seas fishing fleet. The Polish fisheries catch is currently almost 40 percent lower than it was in 1975 (appendix 13). In 1992, Polish fishermen harvested over 514,000 metric tons (t) compared to 801,000 t in 1975. A careful m. HIGH-SEAS CATCH 1 ,000 Metric tons 600 500 400 300 200 100 □ Inland □ Coastal Distant Water \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ Figure 2. Poland. Fisheries catch, by type of fishery, 1975-80, 1985-92 (in metric tons). The Polish high-seas fleet has fished, since the 1950s, in almost all of the world's productive marine grounds. From 1980 to 1992, access to Atlantic and Pacific grounds was secured through a number of agreements with Peru, Argentina, Canada, the United States, etc. The catch, however, has been in slow, but inexorable, decline since the mid-1980s. This trend is caused primarily by the lack of hard currency to pay for fishing licenses to gain access to foreign 200-mile zones. This has limited the deployment of analysis of appendix 13 shows that there have been tremendous changes, and even upheavals, in Polish fisheries. The Baltic coastal catch (FAO statistical area 27) is now less than one-third of what it used to be in 1975 (figure 2). The inland catch doubled during the same period of time, but it still contributes only 10 percent (51 ,000 t in 1992) to the total catch. 218 350 300 250 200 150 100 Distant-water fisheries have fared somewhat better. In 1992, the Polish high-seas fishermen caught 359,000 t, only 18 percent less than the 440,000 t harvested in 1975. During those 17 years, the high-seas catch fluctuated considerably from a peak of over 500,000 in 1987 to a low of 306,000 in 1991. Its percentage of the total catch, however, remained a constant 60 to 70 percent. The catch by FAO statistical fishing areas fluctuated much more, both in quantity and in geographic location (figure 3). In 1980, for instance, the Polish high-seas fleet fished in ten major distant- water fishing areas; by 1992, the Poles conducted substantial operations in only three such areas. In 1980, the most important fishing grounds were in the South Atlantic, off the coasts of Africa and South America. By 1992, those grounds were insignificant compared to the large Pacific haul off Russia's 200-mile zone. 1,000 Metric tons Figure 3. Poland. Distant-water fisheries catch, by region, 1985-92. 1975-80, Argentine-British war made any fisheries enforcement difficult. In the last few years, however, the British have introduced a strict fisheries management regime to prevent overfishing and, as a result, have been issuing fewer and fewer licenses to foreign vessels. Consequently, the southwestern Atlantic fisheries now yield to Polish fishermen only about a tenth of what they By far the largest fishery in 1992 was in the Northwest Pacific (FAO statistical area 61), where 298,000 t of Alaska pollock was landed in the international waters of the Sea of Okhotsk. The second most important fishing area in 1992 was the southwestern Atlantic fishing ground adjacent to the Falkland Islands (FAO statistical area 41). A total of 43,000 t was caught there, mostly squid (26,230 tons). This part of the Atlantic used to be the prime Polish harvesting ground in the late 1980s (figure 4) when the 1,000 Metric tons Figure 4. Poland. Fisheries catch in the soutliwest Atlantic. 1975-91. 219 harvested there only a decade ago (appendix 14). The remainder of the high-seas catch, except for a negligible 1,000 t off New Zealand, was the 17,300 t of krill landed in the FAO statistical area 48, adjacent to the Antarctic continent."^ The Polish high-seas fleet abandoned many grounds that were fished a decade or two ago. During the last decade, the Polish vessels withdrew from fisheries off the West African coast (Mauritania), off Canada, the United States, Mexico, and other countries. A short-lived fishery (1982-84) in the southeastern Pacific, off Chile and Peru, was discontinued for unknown reasons. IV. HIGH-SEAS FISHING GROUNDS Polish vessels are concentrating their fishing effort principally in the international waters of the Sea of Okhotsk ("peanut hole") and around the Falkland Islands in 1993. This has been necessitated by the denial of access to other traditional fishing grounds" , or because these grounds have become commercially unprofitable (for example, the waters off Mauritania and the fisheries on the Newfoundland Shelf). '^ Southwest Atlantic (FAO statistical area 41): The area around the Falkland Islands has been Poland's second largest fishery (mostly for loligo squid) since 1987, but the catch has been declining steadily since 1983, a bumper year when 348,000 t of fish was harvested. By 1992, the catch had fallen to 42,500 t, a decrease of more than 50 percent from the 1990 catch figure (figure 4).^« Northwest Pacific (FAO statistical area 67): From 1985 to 1986, the Alaska pollock fishery in the international waters of the Bering Sea "donut hole" contributed significantly to Poland's overall fishing catch. Heavy fishing in the 1980s by the Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, and Russians, as well as the Poles, however, depleted the Bering Sea resources badly. '^ In the 1989, many Polish trawlers began to shift their operations to the Northwest Pacific and this was reflected in the "donut hole" catch statistics (figure 5). In 1988, Polish fishermen caught almost 300,000 t of Alaska pollock in that area. By 1991 , the Polish harvest was only 54,900 tons^*^'; in 1992, the Poles ceased fishing in the "donut hole" altogether even before a 2-year international moratorium on this fishery was adopted. The majority of the Polish vessels, displaced from the Bering Sea in 1992, moved their operations to the international waters in the central Sea of Okhotsk (the so- 1,000 Metric tons 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Figure 5. Poland. Bering Sea "donut hole" catch, 1985-92. 220 called "peanut hole"). The Polish catch in the "peanut hole" was 175,700 in 1991, and 297,700 in 1992. In early 1993, over 40 Polish large stern factory trawlers were operating in the "peanut hole" harvesting Alaska pollock,^' about the same number as in December 1992. Antarctic: Antarctic waters are fished to a small extent, primarily for krill. The size of these catches reflects a limited market.^- During the 1990/1991 Antarctic season, 8 Polish vessels conducted fishing operations, mostly for krill, and harvested 9,591 t of fish in the Atlantic Sector of the CCAMLR Convention Area.^^ During the 1991/92 season, however, the Polish fishermen doubled their landings to 17,300 tons (appendix 13). V. FISHING COMPANIES Three large fishing and processing enterprises (with a total of about 12,500 employees) dominate the fishing industry in Poland: ODRA (located in Swinoujscie), GRYF (in Szczecin), and DALMOR (in Gdynia). During the communist era, these enterprises were heavily subsidized. The basic aim was to increase the catch, regardless of cost. To fulfill the production plans, generous subsidies were extended to these companies year after year by the Government from the state budget. When government subsidies were withdrawn in 1990, it became clear that their operations were unprofitable, and major restructuring was undertaken to make them economically attractive enough to be sold. It was evident that the Polish high-seas fleet was overcapitalized for the reduced harvesting opportunities of the 1990s. All three companies began to sell older fishing vessels and diversify into new economic activities, some not connected to fisheries. They continue to be state-owned companies, but after 1990, they became self- managing and allowed to make their own policy decisions. ^^ These three fishing companies currently own 53 stern factory trawlers with an average of about 2,500 GRT (the total fleet has 292,000 GRT^^); this number represented a significant reduction from the 77 vessels that these companies owned at the end of 1990.''' The 1992 catch of the high-seas fleet amounted to 360,000 t or 6,792 t per trawler. DALMOR, not only the largest, but the best managed of the 3 high-seas fishing companies, was the quickest to adapt to the new exigencies. In 1992, its fishermen increased their catch by 35 percent" which made it possible for the company to turn a profit. DALMOR also concluded several joint ventures: one, with an Italian company,^** procured an infusion of foreign capital and was used for the modernization of the company's processing plant; the other, with the Gdansk Repair Shipyard, will repair fishing vessels, both for domestic and foreign owners. '"^ DALMOR owned 17 trawlers in 1992 and employed 3,581 persons; its fishermen caught 169,300 t of fish, or 47 percent of the total 1992 Polish high-seas fisheries catch of 358,500 tons. The value of the catch was estimated at US$ 85 million, 80 percent of which was exported for hard currency."" The ODRA company owned 20 factory trawlers and 4 squid jigging vessels with processing facilities on board at the beginning of 1991 when it was contributing about 20 percent to Poland's total high-seas fishery landings.**' ODRA sold its fish-processing plant to a private corporation named ODRA- 221 EUROPE, but has retained all of its trawlers. ODRA had major operational losses both in 1991 and 1992, as well as in the first half of 1993. The Government of Poland was considering its bankruptcy and dissolution, but the final decision has not yet been made. The GRYF company restructured itself in 1992 into three companies,^- hoping that it would be able to privatize three smaller units with more ease than a large company. Financing operations: Polish high-seas fishing companies have been exporting 90-95 percent of their catch during the past few years, mainly to obtain rapid payment for their products. This is necessary to avoid carrying-over charges on temporary loans extended by Polish banks to cover the day-to- day operations of the companies. This was not a major problem when the Polish Government subsidized these companies with low interest rates on its bank credits and, if necessary, by direct subsidies. in August 1990, however, the new democratic government discontinued all subsidies and began to privatize the industry. It takes many months before finished fishery products can be sold, and the slow capital turnover rate of the high-seas companies has exacerbated their tenuous financial state. The Polish fleets operate in distant waters which are reached after weeks-long voyages. The catch, or semi-processed products, are brought back to Poland months later. In the meantime, however, the company has to finance the operating capital through bank loans. This situation became so critical that in 1993 the government's budget included preferential credits for the operations of both the deep-sea and Baltic fleets: 250 million and 80 million zioty, respectively. The cost to the government of these credit subsidies was estimated at 40 million zloty."*^ Privatization: Only in 1990, when the Communist Party's dictatorship and the economic command system collapsed, were the subsidies and fixed prices abolished and the privatization of fishery assets (processing plants, fishing vessels, export and import trade, etc.) begun. The process of privatizing state-owned fishing companies and cooperatives is progressing slowly in Poland. Although the state-owned share of assets keeps decreasing, the public sector continues to dominate the field. No institutions exist that can effectively carry out such transactions. Furthermore, there is a lack of demand by Polish (and foreign) entrepreneurs for fishing vessels and processing plants."*^ Nevertheless, the Polish fishing companies which have been government-owned until recently, have made an attempt to privatize in accordance with the Privatization Law of July 13, 1990. Under this law, companies may form corporations in which foreign companies hold an interest. The main obstacles to privatization are the lack of available investment funds (both foreign and domestic) and the high interest charged on loans that could be secured. ''^ On the other hand, the extensive contacts, which many Poles have maintained with the West European business community, and commercial deals concluded with countries that have market economies, contribute significantly to the growing private fisheries sector. The first among the three high-seas enterprises to privatize was the ODRA company from Swinoujscie which transformed itself into a one-shareholder limited-liability company. The single shareholder, however, is the Polish State Treasury.'"^ 222 With regard to the control of fishing companies, the state-owned apparatus continues for the most part to remain intact with only small pockets of privatization. The DALMOR high-seas company, for example, has several employees who hold shares in the company. 47 While privatization is still at the drawing board stage for the fishing companies, the processing and marketing sector of the industry has made great strides. Private enterprises are expanding rapidly and competing with former state-owned marketing monopolists. The government organizations which have had a monopoly on the processing and selling of fishery products,'** are now faced with numerous private wholesale and retail shops that are no longer obliged to buy their inventories from Polish companies; they can now import them, if the price is right. Foreign fish wholesalers have established branch offices in Poland and compete with both state-owned and private Polish suppliers. In the fish retail sector, there has been an explosion of new private outlets. ■*' Already in 1991 over 68 percent of all fishery retail outlets were privately owned, and by 1993 the retail privatization is almost complete. It should be noted that private retail shops have substantially better facilities than their state- run competitors 50 The most effective privatization is in the smallish Baltic fisheries where, during 1990- 93, private fisherman leased 137 cutters from state-owned companies.^' Legislation is now being discussed by the Polish parliament which is designed to introduce fishery management principles, policies and standards that would be comparable to those currently prevailing in the European Community." VI. nSHERIES ADMINISTRATION In 1989, after the downfall of Poland's communist-led government, the Central Board of Fisheries, which administered the entire fishing sector (including the fleets, processing plants, as well as wholesale and retail marketing) was dissolved. Following a series of changes, fisheries were finally placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport and Maritime Economy in Warsaw." The Ministry immediately began the process of privatizing as much of the fishing industry as possible in order to adapt to the new market conditions being created in Poland. RYBEX, the state-owned fishery export company of Poland's Ministry of Foreign Trade, monopolized Polish fishery exports for 40 years. It collected a 3.5 percent commission on such exports. This displeased the fishing companies that had not only produced the export commodities, but often also initiated contacts with foreign importers, negotiated the contracts, and shipped the goods. They considered RYBEX a parasitic organization, but under the communist system of centralized control there was no recourse. To make matters worse, RYBEX paid the exporting companies an average price for the same commodity, regardless of quality. DALMOR, which exported the highest quality of fishery products, felt that RYBEX was subsidizing companies with poorer quality goods, stifling any incentive to improve and make a better product. A new law, passed in 1990, allowed private companies to export on their own account. DALMOR was the first of the three large high-seas fishing companies to 223 start exporting its products in late 1990; it was followed by GRYF in 1991, and ODRA later that year.-^ The retail and processing sectors as well as the Baltic fleet have largely been privatized. The 3 large high-seas fishing companies were difficult to privatize, however, and various schemes were devised to accomplish this while providing for the greatest possibility of achieving profitability. VII. BILATERAL AGREEMENTS Poland has many bilateral fishery agreements and joint ventures. Among these were an agreement allowing Polish fishermen to catch fish and squid in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of the United States and Canada, as well as a private arrangement for buying fish directly from U.S. and Canadian fishermen. Another arrangement allowed Poles to operate in UK waters around the Falkland Islands; bilateral agreements with Argentina and Peru were also concluded. "^^ In 1993, in an effort to retain its capability to fish on the high-seas and to utilize the large capacity of its high-seas fleet, Poland is actively seeking further access to foreign d istant- water grounds through intergovernmental agreements. Poland is currently negotiating bilateral fishery accords with several countries, but has successfully concluded only a few. Angola: In April 1993, the Polish and Angolan Governments concluded an agreement allowing 5 fishing vessels owned by the Atlantis company of Gdansk to operate in Angola's exclusive economic zone in the southeastern Atlantic.^* Argentina: Poland reportedly signed a bilateral fisheries access agreement with Argentina in 1974." Details regarding the implementation of this agreement are not available, but the FAO catch statistics show no Polish catch in the southwestern Atlantic (FAO statistical area 41) until 1976. The Polish catch grew phenomenally in that area from 2,700 t in 1977 to 357,900 t in 1983. The increases in the catch were unaffected by the Falklands conflict although some Polish fishing vessels were damaged or possibly sunk by both the British and the Argentines.^** The Polish high-seas fleet, with the permission of the Argentine Government, at first transshipped its large catch in Argentine ports. Only when the Argentine fishing industry observed how large the Polish catch was did they withdraw permission for such transhipments (figure 4).^" Press reports indicate that as many as 70 Polish vessels, the majority of the high-seas fleet, were fishing just outside the Argentine 200-mile zone after 1977.^^' There is no information available on the current state of the Polish-Argentine bilateral agreement, but a recent article claims that the arrangement is still in existence.*' Canada: In the early 1980s, Poland received cod allocations from Canada, and was allowed access to the Canadian 200-mile fisheries zone. As the "Canadianization" of the Atlantic coast fisheries proceeded, however, Polish fishery catch allocations in the Canadian EEZ declined."- Unusually severe ice conditions prevented cod fishing in 1990. Polish cod fishing off Canada was discontinued in 1991, because the DALMOR company, the principal Polish company fishing in Canadian waters, sold the vessels engaged in that fishery."^ Unconfirmed reports indicate that several Polish vessels again fished outside Canada's EEZ in 1993. 224 On the Canadian Pacific coast, the Canadian Government allows Polish fishermen to purchase directly from Canadian fishermen at sea. These "klondyking" operations have been reduced somewhat from previous years, but still yielded the Poles 41,696 t of Pacific hake in 1992.*' Chile: Chile has not permitted Polish vessels to fish within its 200-mile zone in recent years. Polish fishermen have conducted mid- water trawls for jack mackerel and other species outside the Chilean 200-mile zone in 1,000 Metric tons 100 80 60 40 20 ^/7^:z:zyf5 did not fish extensively off the Falklands because Argentine naval patrols would seize foreign fishing vessels operating off the Falkland Islands, which Argentina claimed as its territory. The Polish catch from 1979-81 thus never exceeded 100,000 tons. This situation changed dramatically in 1982 for two reasons. Firstly, Poland redeployed vessels to the southwestern Atlantic after the United States reduced to zero its catch allocations in the northeastern Pacific following the proclamation of martial law by the Polish Communist Government.''* Secondly, the 1982 Falklands conflict created an opportunity for Polish fishermen because it prevented Argentina from conducting enforcement patrols, while the British requested only a "voluntary curtailment" of the foreign fishing effort.*^ Taking advantage of these circumstances, Poland quickly escalated fishing operations off the Falklands, and the catch totaled nearly 350,000 t in 1983. yy/'^yziz y Figure 6. Poland. Fisheries catch in the southeast Pacific, 1985-92. the southeastern Pacific (FAO statistical area 87); the Polish catch totaled over 80,000 t in 1984. This, however, was the last year that the Poles operated in this region (figure 6).*'^ Falkland Islands: Poland initiated a major fishery in the southwestern Atlantic in 1979, although small landings were harvested as early as 1976. Most of this effort was concentrated outside the Argentine 200-mile zone. At the time, Polish fishermen probably Polish catches declined during the next few years, especially after the British declared the 150-mile 1975-80, Falkland Islands Interim Conservation and Management Zone (FICZ) in October 1986. and introduced the licensing of foreign fishing. The Poles, unlike the Soviets and other communist countries operating in the southwestern Atlantic (Bulgaria, Cuba and former East Germany), applied for licenses to the Falkland Islands Government (appendix 14). ^'^ Polish fishermen continued to catch over 100,000 t annually during 1987-88, but reported that catches declined to about 70,000 t in 1989 and continued to decrease during the next 3 years (appendix 13 and figure 4). 225 Despite the decline, Poland remains one of the principal distant-water countries currently fishing off the Falklands. The 3 major Polish high-seas fishing companies have all deployed vessels there, targeting both squid and demersal finfish, mostly blue whiting. They deploy primarily large trawlers averaging about 2,500 GRT, and use Montevideo as a supply and transport base.^' In 1993, Poland obtained licenses for 5 large trawlers to fish off the Falklands during the so-called first season (January-June), when the catch is expected to include 3,700 t of loligo squid. ^^' Another 4 vessels have licenses to harvest finfish during the second season (August to October).^' New Zealand: Two stern factory trawlers, one owned by the ODRA company, the other by DALMOR, are fishing inside New Zealand's 200-mile zone. It is believed that these trawlers are being leased by a New Zealand company under commercial contract. Norway: The Norwegian Government has allocated Polish fishermen a saithe quota inside the Norwegian EEZ for 1992. Details are not available. cooperation agreement (appendix 15)." Polish-Russian fishery relations have been strained recently because of the Polish fishermen's refusal to cease operations in the international waters of the Sea of Okhotsk ("peanut hole") despite repeated calls by Russia for a moratorium on fishing there. A more recent irritant was the boycott against Russian trawlers trying to sell their Baltic herring catch in Polish ports. The Polish fishermen's union prevented them from entering and claimed that the Russians were dumping fish at prices 75 percent lower than the prevailing prices on the Polish market (for details see section on competition).^^ Nevertheless, economic advantages have encouraged cooperation between the two countries' fishermen. A fish cooperative from Gdansk (Jednosc Rybacka) concluded a contract with the owners of 4 Russian trawlers based in Kaliningrad for delivery of their Baltic herring and sprat landings. The deal is mutually profitable as the Russian owners will buy fuel in Kaliningrad at low, subsidized prices and sell their fish in Poland at higher prices than they could get in Russia. ^^ Peru: According to a knowledgeable writer''-, Poland has a bilateral fisheries agreement with Peru, but unfortunately no details were given. The article was published in early 1993 when most Polish trawlers were fishing either in the northwestern Pacific or off the Falkland Islands. It is believed that the Peruvian operation probably involves only a few vessels since most of the Polish fleet was deployed in the previously mentioned two fishing grounds. Russia/Fonner USSR: In December 1987, the USSR and Poland signed a fisheries Sweden: Following the establishment of exclusive economic zones in the Baltic Sea in 1977, Poland and Sweden concluded a bilateral fisheries agreement, which is reviewed annually. It allows reciprocal access to each other country's EEZ. On the average, Polish Baltic trawlers were allowed to catch 9,000 t of herring in the Swedish EEZ against 3,000 tons of Baltic cod that the Swedes were allocated in the Polish EEZ. In the summer of 1993, this agreement was suspended because of a severe decline of cod stocks in the Polish EEZ.^'' 226 United States: Poland signed a Governing International Fisheries Agreement (GIFA) with the United States on August 1, 1985; it allowed Polish vessels to fish in U.S. waters. This agreement was extended several times; it is now valid until December 31, 1993.^^ entirely (pollock, herring. Pacific cod, etc.), catch allocations to Polish fishermen in the U.S. 200-mile zone (appendix 16). By 1990, fishery allocations for Poles in the U.S. EEZ had dropped to only 2,431 t; in 1991, these allocations were reduced to zero .■" In the late 1970s, Poland expanding catch quotas in the EEZ. In 1982, however, to democratic reforms begun by movement, the Polish fleet was the U.S. EEZ following the martial law in December 1981 was allocated United States encourage the the Solidarity expelled from imposition of I by the then- 1,000 Metric tons 250 200 150 100 w<<^^;¥^<^<^^<^^^^ Figure 7. Poland. Fishery allocations in the U.S. EEZ, 1977-92. Vietnam: Negotiations were conducted in 1991 by the DALMOR representative in Vietnam who was trying to sell the Vietnamese a Polish vessel to be used as a fishery research vessel. The Polish Government is paying special attention to its fishery relations with Vietnam as it would like to establish a fishery base in Vietnam so that Polish crews fishing in the Pacific could be rotated by air, with repairs and maintenance of the vessels completed in Vietnamese shipyards. The Polish side is represented in Vietnam by the Department of Fisheries of the Ministry of Transportation and Maritime Economy, DALMOR company, and the Gdansk Shipyards. Polish relations with Vietnam fishery officials are facilitated by the fact that about a half of them were educated in Poland and can speak Polish.**' Communist Polish Government. The Polish fleet had to discontinue its fishing in the U.S. 200-mile EEZ as it received no catch allocations (figure 7).^** The Polish Government rescinded the martial law regulations in 1984, and Polish fishermen were again allocated catch quotas in the United States' waters.^' In 1987, the United States began to decrease (Atlantic mackerel, Pacific hake, etc.), or eliminate VIII. JOINT VENTURES The conclusion of joint venture agreements is vital for the continuation of Polish high-seas fishing. Polish fishermen urgently need new distant-water fishing grounds on which to operate their substantial fleet. Over 10 joint venture contracts were concluded between 1989 and 1993 with Australian, Canadian, Danish, Dutch, 227 German, and Swedish companies. Most of these ventures were concluded between fish- processing companies, with two joint ventures (both with Danish companies) established for Baltic fishing. Argentina: The Polish-Argentine joint venture, Arpolco, S.A., which was formed by ODRA company and the Argentine company Harengus, became operational in 1991. The details of its activities are not known." Peru: Polish fishing off Peru began in 1973 through a joint venture arranged by the Polish Fish-Exporting Company (RYBEX) in 1972. Under the terms of the agreement, the Polish fishermen were permitted to deploy vessels within Peru's 200-mile zone. The catch, however, was reported as part of the Peruvian catch as the vessels were reflagged to Peruvian ship registry. Polish-flag vessels first reported small catches in the southeast Pacific during 1979, even though their actual catch was nearly 200,000 tons.**^ The joint venture failed after the Peruvian Government implemented new restrictive hake fishing regulations in 1980.'^ This would have required the Poles to shift operations beyond Peru's 200-mile limit, but they instead negotiated joint venture arrangements with Peruvian companies permitting them continued operations in Peruvian waters. Polish-flag vessels did not report significant catches, however, until 1983 when they caught 40,000 t in the region (FAO statistical area 87). The Polish catch peaked at 80,000 t in 1984 after which Poland terminated the fishery. Polish fishery officials, however, continue to be interested in the southeastern Pacific and have met with Peruvian officials to discuss access. Yemen: A fisheries agreement was signed in 1992 between the governments of Poland and Yemen followed by a letter of intent to establish a joint venture between the Polish high-seas fishing company, DALMOR, and a Yemeni fishing company. Included in this agreement is a cooperative project for joint research and training of Yemen's biologists at the Polish Marine Fisheries Institute (MIR) in Gdynia.'' IX. OUTLOOK The future of Polish fisheries will depend on the government's ability to retain access to the high-seas fishing grounds where the Polish fleets operate today. The largest of these fisheries in the international waters of the western North Pacific is being threatened by the demands of the Russian Federation that the fishing there be severely curtailed, if not entirely stopped. The Russians maintain that the Alaska pollock stocks are in danger of being overfished, but the Poles counter that Russian biologists have not shown conclusive scientific evidence that this is the case. As a result, the Polish fleet of about 30-40 stern factory trawlers continues to fish there even though the government has made the concession of promising to reduce the total 1993 take by 25 percent below the 1992 catch. Continued pressure by Russian diplomats and fishery administrators, however, does not bode well for this fishery. In the neighboring international waters of the central Bering Sea, a moratorium on Alaska pollock fishing was set by international consensus by six fishing nations, including Poland, for 1993 and 1994. The most recent scientific evidence shows no significant recruitment of new yearclasses and it is highly unlikely that any fishery will be allowed in this area for the next 3-5 years. 228 The small fisheries in the southwestern Atlantic around the Falkland Islands will probably continue, but the number of Polish vessels allowed to fish there will be minimal. The Antarctic krill resources are still abundant, but it remains to be seen is the economics of fishing in this distant ground will permit its continuation. The Polish fishery managers realize that the future potential for the Polish high-seas fleet is at best limited and, at worst, threatened. They have begun a program of fleet reduction which has accelerated in recent years. An estimated 50 Polish vessels have recently been sold, scrapped, or reflagged. Many of these vessels were aged and unprofitable. If this program continues at the current pace, the Polish high-seas fleet will not only become "younger", but also more efficient and therefore more profitable. Recent information indicates that two our of three Polish high-seas fishing companies are in dire straits as their deficits keep increasing from year to year. It is not impossible that they will declare bankruptcy in the near future. One of them, the ODRA, has recently decommissioned one third of its high-seas fleet to try to survive. One bright spot in this otherwise gloomy picture is the hard currency which the Polish high-seas fishermen have recently earned. In the past, these monies went to the Polish treasury, but if in the future the privatization of the fishing companies allows them to retain these earnings, they will at least be able to replace aged vessels with a few modern vessels which could operate profitably. SOURCES Dutkiewicz, Daniel and Zbigniew S. Karnicki. "Tlie Polish Fishing Industry". Gdynia: MIR, 1993. (English translation of the Polish original) "Empty Nets," Zyde Gospodarcze (Warsaw) No. 22, 30 May 1993, p. 4. FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, various years. Gwiazda, Adam. "Uncertain Future for the Polish Fishing Industry." World Fishing. February 1993, pp. 38-39. Kaniicki, Z.S. "Nie ma juz wolnych lowisk [Tliere are no more free fishing grounds). Budownictwo Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska (Gdansk), May- June 1993. (In Polish) Kamicki, Z.S. and D. Dutkiewicz. "The State of the Polish Fishing Industry." Published in Tl]e First East-West Fisheries Conference, 20-22 May 1993. St. Petersburg, Russia. London: Agra Europe, 1993. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), "Review of Fisheries, 1990: Poland." Paris, 1991. Polanski, Zygmunt. "The Fishing Industry in Poland." FAO/GLOBEFISH Research Programme. Vol. 19. Rome: FAO. 1993. Polanski, Z. "The Polish Fishery in 1991," Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Institute. No. 2. Gdynia: MIR. 1993. "The Polish Fishing Industry," World Fishing. February 1993. pp. 33-34. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw. Letter of 17 July 1993 enclosing an unpublished manuscript. 229 ENDNOTES 1. D. Dutkiewicz and Z.S. Karnicki. "The Polish Fishing Industry," Gdynia: MIR, 1993. (English translation of the Polish original). 2. Ibid. Wliile only 32,000 persons are actually directly employed in the fishing industry. Dr. Karnicki, the President of the Polish Development As.sociation (prior to his recent resignation to accept a position with FAO in Rome) estimated in an article presented at the First East-West Fisheries Conference in May 1993 in St. Petersburg, Russia, that "the fishing industry provides a living for about 100,000 persons." An article in Zycie Gospodarcze of 30 May 1993 implies that the figure of 100,000 refers to "... people together with families..." of the 3 large high-seas fishing companies. 3. In 1991, the Polish Statistical Bureau reported the consumption of fishery products at 6.2 kilograms per person. 4. Z.S. Karnicki and D. Dutkiewicz. "The State of the Polish Fishing Industry." Published in: The First East- West Fisheries Conference, 20-22 May 1993, St. Petersburg, Russia. (London: Agra Europe), 1993. 5. Z. Polanski, "The Fishing Industry in Poland," Published in: FAO/GLOBEFISH Research Programme, Vol. 19, Rome, 1993, p. 10. The Polish Goverimient did continue to extend some fisheries assistance in such areas as fishing port maintenance, vocational training of fishermen, fisheries research, etc. 6. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), "Review of Fisheries, 1990: Poland." Paris, 1991. 7. Ibid. 8. This figure was also confirmed in appendix 4 and the vessels are listed in great detail in appendix 8. 9. The authors have decided to publish the list of Polish fishery vessels, kindly supplied by the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence, because it was the most complete in listing every vessel by its name, class, and gross registered tonnage. The official submission by the Polish Goveriunent (appendices 5 & 6) had no such detail even though it was more accurate in giving the total number of vessels. A recent report by Z. Polanski in the Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Institute listed 20 Polish trawlers that were decommissioned in 1990 and 1991. This information was incorporated in appendices 7 and 10. 10. Dutkiewicz and Karnicki, op. cit. 11. Ibid. Since these large vessels are equipped with refrigeration, they could be used in transporting non- fishery commodities that require refrigeration. One reason for this development is the fact that most Polish vessels fish in thousands-of-miles-distant Pacific grounds. It would be uneconomical to send a large transport vessel to tranship their catch when foreign carriers can accept their products as convenience cargo. In the past, under the command system, high-seas fishery companies had to use Polish transports regardless of the cost and regardless of other closer and cheaper transportation. 12. Appendix 7 gives the age of the Polish high-seas fishing vcs.sels as well as their names and classes. 13. Polanski, op. cit. 230 14. Z.S. Kamicki, "Nie ma juz wolnych lowisk" Budownictwo Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska (Gdansk), May- June 1993, p. 3. 15. Among them were 5 large stem factory trawlers having over 2,000 GRT each and 7 smaller trawlers. A large fish carrier was also withdrawn from operations. The final disposition of these vessels is unknown, but it is likely that some were reflagged and others scrapped. 16. For a full discussion of flag-of-convenience registrations, see Volume 4 of this report, Weidner and Hall, Latin America Overview, pp. 20-27. 17. Kamicki, Budownictwo Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska, op cit. 18. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, letter of July 17, 1993 enclosing an unpublished manuscript. 19. Ibid. 20. Budownictwo Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska, January-February 1993, p. 16. 21. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, op. cit. 22. "The Polish Fishing Industry," World Fishing. Febmary 1993, pp. 33-34. This article is one of the better recent reviews of the situation prevailing in Polish fisheries. 23. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, op. cit. 24. Eurofish Report, 22 April 1993. The Russians were offering herring at about zloty 1,000 per kilogram, vastly undercutting the Polish market price of zloty 4,000. Interestingly, a Norwegian vessel was nevertheless allowed to enter and sell haddock and mackerel as those two species are not being fished by Polish fishermen and were therefore not considered a competitive threat. 25. The managers of the Dalmor company had asked the Polish Fisheries Institute (MIR) technologists to constmct a krill-peeling machine. The project was successftil and, in 1992, frozen, peeled krill was exported to the United States where a fish-processing company is using the raw material to make krill burgers. 26. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, op. cit. 27. "The Polish Fishing Industry," World Fishing, op. cit. 28. FAO, Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, various years. 29. "Empty Nets," Zycie Gospodarcze (Warsaw) 22, May 1993, p. 4. 30. Polanski, op. cit. 31. Russian Fisheries Attache, Personal Communication, 14 March 1993. 32. Dutkiewicz and Kamicki, op. cit. 33. "Report of Member's Activities in the Convention Area 1990/1991: Poland." CCAMLR. 3 September 1991. 34. Dutkiewicz and Kamicki, op. cit. 231 35. Eurofish Report. 24 October 1991. 36. Dutkiewicz and Karnicki, op. cit. ; Eurofish Report, April 9, 1992. 37. Adam Gwiazda, "Uncertain Future for tlie Polish Fishing Industry." World Fishing, February 1993, pp. 38-39. Most of this catch was harvested in the so-called peanut-hole in the international waters in the Sea of Okhotsk. Gwiazda's article is one of the best recent presentations of the current situation in the Polish fishing industry. 38. Ibid. The Italian company is PESCALAUDIO from Milan. The joint venture is named DALPESCA. 39. Ibid. The joint venture company is named DALREM which stands for DALMOR/REMONT (repairs). 40. "Dalmor - No. 1 in Poland," World Fishing, February 1993, p. 37. Tlie $68 million earned in foreign currencies were payments for the export of Alaska pollock in frozen blocks, minced form, or reduced to fishmeal. 41. World Fishing, February 1991, p. 15. 42. Gwiadza, op. cit. 43. "Empty Nets," Zycie Gospodarcze (Warsaw) No. 22, dated 30 May 1993, p. 4. 44. Eurofish Report, 23 April 1993. 45. Dutkiewicz and Karnicki, op. cit. 46. Eurofish Report, 23 May 1991. 47. "The Polish Fishing Industry," World Fishing, op. cit. 48. The processing and canning of fish in Poland was monopolized by the ZAKLADY RYBNE, while the CENTRALA RYBNA had a monopoly on fish marketing and owned, until recently, most of the fish retail stores. 49. "The Polish Fishing Industry," op. cit., p. 34 50. ibid. 51. Dutkiewicz and Karnicki, op. cit. 52. Ibid. 53. Karnicki and Dutkiewicz, op. cit. 54. Personal Conmiunication to M. Kravanja, 1991. 55. World Fishing, February 1993. 56. Eurofish Report, 11 April 1993. 57. "Tlie Fishing Agreement with Poland," La Prensa, 1 August 1974, p. 4. 58. "British May Have Sunk Polish Fishing Vessel," Noticias Argentinas, 0309 GMT, 5 May 1982. The reliability of tlie Argentinean source is not known. Tliere was no confirmation of this story from any other available source. 59. "Explica a Polonia la Prohibici6n de Pescar," La Voz. 13 September 1983; "Buques de Polonia no Podr^n Trasbordar Capturas Pesqueras," La Prensa, 9 September 1983; "Revocan Authorizaci6n a Pesqueros Polaco," La Nacion, 7 September 1983. 60. "Preocupa la Presencia de Pesqueros Polacos," Navitecnia, April 1983, p. 8; "Entr6 al Puerto de Bahi'a Blanca un Pesquero de Bandera Polaca," La Nacion, 29 July 1983, p. 12. 61. "The Polish Fishing Industry," World Fishing, op. cit. 62. Milan Kravanja and Forrest Nielsen, "East European Fisheries Trade with the United States. 1980-91," International Fisheries Report 91\101, National Marine Fisheries Service, December 31, 1991. 63. Ibid. 64. Personal conmiunication to M. Kravanja, 29 October 1993. 65. The Poles were also active off neighboring Peru. For details see the Peruvian chapter of Volume 4. 66. "Poles Switch to South Atlantic Squid Grounds," Eurofish Report, 6 October 1982, 16. 67. Jeremy Cherfas, "The Last Great Free-for-all at Sea," New Scientist, 7 November 1985, 18-19. 68. "Poland breaks ranks with USSR and applies for Falkland licenses," Eurofish Report, 10 December 1987. 69. "Falkland Hostility to Argentina Still Strong," Daily Yomiuri, 20 February 1986. 70. Seafood International, August 1993. 71. Falkland Islands Fishery Department, 1993. 72. "The Polish Fishing Industry," World Fishing, op. cit. 73. Kaliningrad teletype for Seamen, 18 December 1987. 74. Eurofish Report, 22 April 1993. 75. Ibid. 76. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, op. cit. 77. U.S. Department of State, November 1991. 78. Kravanja and Nielsen, op. cit . 79. Ibid. 233 80. Fisheries of the United States, 1991, U.S. Department of Commerce, NOAA, NMFS. Washington, DC, 1992. 81. Budownictwo Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska, op. cit. 82. "Defender el Pabelon es Garantizar el Crecemiento," Redes. No. 54, 1991, pp. 34-5. 83. Technika i Gospodarka Morska, October 1980. 84. U.S. Embassy, Warsaw, 10 December 1982. 85. Budownictwo Okretowe i Gospodarka Morska, op. cit. 86. Ibid. 234 Appendix 1. Poland. Number of high-seas Hshing and fishery support vessels, 1975-92. Year Fishing Support Total Number of vessels 1975 144 7 151 1976 149 9 158 1977 162 9 171 1978 165 9 174 1979 154 9 163 1980 147 10 157 1981 131 10 141 1982 120 11 131 1983 111 11 122 1984 105 11 116 1985 100 12 112 1986 99 13 112 1987 96 13 109 1988 94 14 108 1989 91 17 108 1990 90 15 105 1991 83 14 97 1992 73 1 12 85 Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, London, various years. 235 Appendix 2. Poland. Number of high-seas Ashing vessels, ranked by tonnage, 1975-92. Year Gross Registered Tons (GRT) Total 500-999 1,000-1,999 Over 2,000 Number of vessels 1975 67 27 50 144 1976 61 29 59 149 1977 61 29 72 162 1978 61 29 75 165 1979 50 29 75 154 1980 43 29 75 147 1981 29 27 75 131 1982 27 27 66 120 1983 23 26 62 HI 1984 20 24 61 105 1985 19 23 58 100 1986 18 23 58 99 1987 16 21 59 96 1988 15 21 58 94 1989 13 20 58 91 1990 9 20 61 90 1991 6 19 58 83 1992 4 12 57' 73 Source; Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, London, various years. Includes 1 vessel over 4,000 gross registered tons. 236 Appendix 3. Poland. Number of high-seas fishery support vessels, ranked by tonnage; 1975-92. Year Gross Registered Tons (GRT) Total 500-999 1,000-1,999 2,000-3,999 Over 4,000 Number of Vessels 1975 - - - 7 7 1976 - - - 9 9 1977 - - - 9 9 1978 - - - 9 9 1979 - - - 9 9 1980 - 1 - 9 10 1981 - - 1 9 10 1982 - - 1 10 11 1983 - - 2 9 11 1984 - - 2 9 11 1985 - - 3 9 12 1986 - 4 9 13 1987 - - 4 9 13 1988 - - 4 10 14 1989 - - 4 13 17 1990 - - 4 11 15 1991 - - 4 10 14 1992 - - 4 8 12 Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables. Lloyd's Register of Shipping. London, various years. 237 Appendix 4. Poland. Fishing fleet by type of vessel, number and gross registered tonnage; 1990-91 1990 1991 Type of vessel Number GRT Number GRT TRAWLERS 0-24 GRT 5 112 2 44 25-49 GRT 212 8,583 214 8,551 50-99 GRT 33 2,585 43 3,308 100-149 GRT 175 18,925 178 19,299 150-249 GRT 16 441 2,855 19 456 3,304 Subtotal 33,060 34,506 500-999 GRT 5 3,981 1 796 1.000-1.999 GRT 15 21,466 12 17,065 2. 000 -GRT and over 57 77 157,840 52 65 146,346 Subtotal 183.287 164.207 TOTAL, TRAWLERS 518 216.347 521 198.713 FISH CARRIERS 1.000-1.999 GRT 1 1,689 1 1.686 2,000-3.999 GRT 4 11,065 4 11.065 4,000-9,999 GRT 9 I4 69,060 8 13 60,196 TOTAL, FISH CARRIERS 81,814 72,947 MOTHERSHIPS 1,000-9,999 GRT 2 27.747 2 27,747 Non -motorized vessels 79 91 Source Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Poland Fishing Fleet and Fishermen, p 181. 238 Appendix 5. Poland. Fishing and fishery support vessels, by gross registered tonnage: 1980. 1985-92. Gross Year Tonnage 1980 1985 1986 198/ 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Number of vessels Baltic sea vessels 100-200 GRT 203 200 189 181 175 171 191 197 191 200-500 GRT - - - - - - - - High-seas vessels 500-1.000 GRT 13 11 11 11 8 8 5 1 - 1,000-2.500 GRT 83 57 57 57 54 51 45 39 32 over 2,500 GRT Subtotal 30 125 36 104 36 104 38 106 41 103 43 99 43 93 40 80 34 66 TOTAL 329 304 293 287 278 270 284 277 257 Average Age 10.9 13.4 13.9 14.0 14 4 14.7 15 4 16 0 16.7 Source: Department of Sea Fisheries, Polish Ministry of Transportation and Maritime Economy, June 1993. Appendix 6. Poland. Fishing and fishery support vessels, by type and number of vessels: 1980. 1985-92. Year Type of vessel 1980 1985 1986 - 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Number of vessels Trawlers Jiggers Transports Motherships 309 10 8 2 282 8 12 2 270 9 12 2 265 6 14 2 254 7 15 2 248 4 16 2 267 1 14 2 262 13 2 244 13 TOTAL 329 304 293 287 278 270 284 277 257 Source: Department of Sea Fisheries. Polish Ministry of Transportation and Maritime Economy, June 1993. 239 Appendix 7. Poland. High-seas fishing trawlers, by class and name of vessel, gross registered tonnage, year and country of construction, age. and owner. Class/ Gross Tonnage Built Age (Years) Owner Vessel name Year Country (Company) AQUILA (B-407) Aquarius Aqui 1 a Cassiopeia ATRIA (B-671) - Acamar Acrux Alphard Atna - 3 vessels (age: 3.719 3.724 3.724 4 vessels (age: 3.708 3.707 3.707 3,707 11 years) 1983 1981 1982 3 2 years) 1990 1990 1991 1989 Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland 10 DALMOR 12 GRYF 11 GRYF 3 DALMOR 3 DALMOR 3 DALMOR 4 DALMOR B-14 - 1 vessel (age: 36 years) Emilia Gierczak* 592 1957 CARINA (B-22) - 7 vessels (age: 24.1 years) Carina** 2.645 1966 Lacerta 2,691 1968 Lepus 2.691 1969 Libra 2.693 1967 Lyra 2,687 1968 Taurus 2,690 1972 Tucana 2,691 1972 Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland 36 27 25 24 26 25 21 21 Not in service in 1991 DALMOR DALMOR DALMOR DALMOR DALMOR DALMOR DALMOR FOKA (B-18) Kaszalot Narwal Pletwal# 3 vessels (age 2,478 2.480 2,495 27 years) 1968 1967 1964 Poland Poland Poland 25 ODRA 26 ODRA 29 ODRA IVAN BOCHKOV (B-408) - 2 vessels (age 6 5 years) Altai r 3,810 1987 Poland 6 DALMOR Dalmor II 3,861 1986 Poland 7 DALMOR KALMAR (B-418) Amarel Awior Bogar Bomto Del fin Garnela Grinwal Hajduk Kalmar Mors Parma Rekin Walen 13 vessels 2,448 2,448 2,448 2,448 2,448 2,448 2,476 2,448 2,448 2,501 2,448 2,448 2,476 (age 18 5 1977 1977 1977 1976 1975 1971 1972 1977 1970 1971 1977 1976 1972 years) Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland Poland 16 16 16 17 18 22 21 16 23 22 16 17 21 ODRA ODRA ODRA GRYF ODRA ODRA GRYF ODRA GRYF ODRA GRYF GRYF ODRA KALMAR MODEL A (B-417) - 9 vessels (age: 16,8 years) Kolias 2,395 1977 Poland 16 ODRA Manta 2.395 1976 Poland 17 ODRA Marl in 2,410 1977 Poland 16 ODRA Mustel 2,395 1977 Poland 16 ODRA Orcyn 2,395 1976 Poland 17 ODRA Orlen 2,395 1976 Poland 17 ODRA Otol 2,395 1976 Poland 17 ODRA Tazar 2.395 1975 Poland 18 ODRA Tunek 2,395 1976 Poland 17 ODRA 240 Appendix 7. Poland. Continued. Class/ Gross Tonnage Built Age (Years) Owner Vessel name Year Country (Company) LANGUSTA (B-673) - 4 vessels (age : 3.0 years) Foka 3,981 1991 Poland 2 ODRA Homar 3,600 1990 Poland 3 ODRA Langusta 3,986 1989 Poland 5 ODRA Sagrain# 3.965 1991 Poland 2 ODRA LASKARA (B-29) - 11 vessels ( age 22,7 years) Kabryl# 1,435 1971 Poland 22 GRYF Kanaryjka# Kantar## 1,480 1968 Poland 25 GRYF 1,480 1969 Poland 24 GRYF Kniazik# 1.482 1969 Poland 24 GRYF Kolen 1.485 1969 Poland 24 GRYF Korwin## 1.485 1969 Poland 24 GRYF Kunatka 1.435 1972 Poland 21 GRYF Laskara# 1.479 1968 Poland 25 GRYF Laterna 1.434 1972 Poland 21 GRYF Likosar 1,435 1973 Poland 20 GRYF Luzytanka# 1,435 1973 Poland 20 GRYF LESKOV (B-23) - 1 vessel (age : 29 years) Andromeda 2,305 1964 Poland 29 ODRA MIEDWIE (B-20) - 3 vessels (age: 31 years) Goplo 797 1962 Poland 31 ODRA Jas1en# 797 1962 Poland 31 ODRA Mielno## 797 1961 Poland 31 ODRA RYBAK MORSKI (B-l 39) - 2 vesse Is ( age: 16,5 years) Adm. Arcziszewsk 1* 2.620 1977 Poland 16 ODRA Rybak Morskn* 2,599 1976 Poland 17 GRYF VEGA (B-419) - 3 vessels (age 19 6 years) Denebola 2,564 1973 Poland 20 DALMOR Gennni 2,680 1973 Poland 20 DALMOR Sirius 2,564 1974 Poland 19 DALMOR WLOCZNIK (B-414) - 5 vessels (age 16 8 years) Arcturus 2.584 1977 Poland 16 DALMOR Pollux 2,584 1976 Poland 17 DALMOR Regulus 2,584 1976 Poland 17 DALMOR Sagitta 2,584 1977 Poland 18 DALMOR Wloczmk 2,584 1975 Poland 17 ODRA UNKNOWN -1 vessel (age: 2 years) Dorada 2,360 1991 TOTAL = 72 vessels Poland 2 TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 177.996 GRT Sources U S Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993 Polanski. Z, "The Polish Fishery in 1991," Bulletin ot the Sea Fisheries Institute. No, 2, 1993 (for vessels sold or inactive) * The Emilia Gierczak, a refrigerated side trawler, is reportedly no longer operational, but its disposition is unknown This vessel, along with the 2 RYBAK MORSKIs, was reportedly used as fishery training vessel ** According to Polanski, this vessel was removed from service in 1991 because of unprofitability # According to Polanski , this vessel was sold in 1991 ## According to Polanski, these. vessels were removed from service and put up for sale in 1991 ## This vessel was removed from service in 1990. 241 Appendix 8. Poland. High-seas fishery support vessels, by class and name of vessel, gross tonnage, and year and country of construction: 1993. Class/ Gross Tonnage Bi Jilt Vessel name Year Country HALNIAK -2 vessels Buran Halniak 5,126 5,126 1972 1971 Poland Poland HARMAHAN -1 vessel Harmattan 1.686 1966 Germany KOCIEWIE -2 vessels Kociewie Powisle 8.833 8.864 1986 1987 Poland Poland TERRAL -4 vessels Solana Terral Tornada Zonda 3,126 2.297 3.126 2,298 1984 1980 1985 1982 Poland Poland Poland Poland ZULAWY (B-68) -4 vessels Kaszuby II Mazury Wineta Zul awy 8,032 8,023 8,032 8,120 1976 1981 1976 1975 Poland Poland Poland Poland TOTAL = 13 vessels GROSS TONNAGE = 72 .689 GRT Source: US. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993 242 Appendix 9. Poland. Fishing and fishery support fleet, by vessel class, number of vessels, total and average gross tonnage, and country and year of construction: 1951-93. Vessel class Number of Gross Tonnage 'essels Total Average 3 11,167 3,772 13 1,378 106 4 14,122 3,530 1 692 692 7 (6) 18,788 2,684 3 (2) 7.453 2,484 2 10,252 5,126 1 1.686 1.686 9 1.754 194 2 7,671 3.835 13 31 , 933 2.456 9 21,570 2,396 2 17,697 8,848 4 (3) 15,532 3,883 11 16,065 1,460 1 2.305 2.305 3 (1) 2,391 794 1 216 216 2 5,219 2,609 4 10,847 2,711 1 165 165 1 119 119 109 11.544 105 1 185 185 3 7.808 2,602 64 7,636 119 5 12,920 2,584 4 32,207 8,051 17 4,965 292 1 143 143 2 226 113 1 150 150 Construction Country Years Poland 1981-83 Poland 1978-79 Poland 1989-90 Poland 1957 Poland 1966-72 Poland 1964-68 Poland 1971-72 Germany 1966 Poland 1988-90 Poland 1986-87 Poland 1971-77 Poland 1975-77 Poland 1986-87 Poland 1989-91 Poland 1968-73 Poland 1964 Poland 1961-62 Sweden 1973 Poland 1976-77 Poland 1980-85 Poland 1953 Poland 1968 Poland 1959-76 Poland 1967 Poland 1973-74 Poland 1976-83 Poland 1975-77 Poland 1976-1981 Poland N/A Denmark 1968 Netherlands 1960. 67 GDR 1968 AQUILA (B-407) ATAIR ATRIA (B-671) B-14 CARINA (B-22) FOKA (B-18) HALNIAK HARMATTAN HEL 150 IVAN BOCHKOV (B-408) KALMAR (B-418) KALMAR MOD A (8-417) KOCIEWIE LANGUSTA (B-673) LASKARA CB-29) LESKOV (B-23) MIEDWIE (B-20) RENLAND RYBAK MORSKI (B-89) TERRAL TYPE B 11 TYPE B 25 TYPE B 25S TYPE TR 27 VEGA (B-419) WLA 300 WLOCZNIK (B-414) ZULAWY UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED UNSPECIFIED TOTAL NUMBER = 300 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 276.287 GRT Source U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence. July 1993. GDR - former German Democratic Republic (East Germany) Note: The figures in parentheses indicate the number of vessels remaining in that class on 31 December 1991, according to an article by Prof. Z. Polanski published in the Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Institute. No. 2 (1993). and received only a day before finalizing the report 243 Appendix 10. Poland. High-seas fleet reduction, by vessel name and class, gross registered tonnage, year and country of construction, and disposition: 1993. Vessel name Class Tonnage Year Built Built In New Flag VESSELS REFLAGGED AishT 1 FOKA 2,480 1968 Poland Nigeria Chiquita Abava N/A 7,390 1992 Poland Cyprus Cidade de Aveiro LASKARA 1,478 1969 Poland Panama* Cidade de Ilhavo LAS KARA 1.480 1968 Poland Panama* Fu Xing Hai KALMAR MOD B 2.374 1977 Poland China Gafanha Do Carma LASKARA 1.485 1969 Poland Panama* Galina LANGUSTA 4,038 1992 Poland Cyprus** Garbis MIEDWIE 797 1962 Poland Germany Glory CARINA 2.677 1970 Poland Nigeria Gregos ALBAKORA 999 1964 Poland Germany Humbak KALMAR 2.448 1970 Poland Argentina Kai Fa WLOCZNIK 2.584 1977 Poland China Kai Feng WLOCZNIK 2.603 1976 Poland China Kulbak LASKARA 1.435 1972 Poland Russia Kurpie KOCIEWIE 8.864 1988 Poland Cyprus*** Mamry MIEDWIE 797 1961 Poland Honduras Mamry II MIEDWIE B 20 766 1961 Poland Honduras Mapuche LASKARA 1.480 1968 Poland Argentina Marlin KALMAR MOD A 2.410 1977 Poland N/A Nor-FTsk I VEGA 2.564 1973 Poland Malta* Nor-Fisk II VEGA 2.680 1973 Poland Malta* Ostna MIEDWIE 797 1961 Poland Germany Peace ALBAKORA 1.005 1963 Poland St Vincent Podlasie KOCIEWIE 8.886 1988 Poland Liberia*** Porto de Avenro LASKARA 1.482 1969 Poland Panama* Smaragd SMARAGD 757 1978 Norway Norway Snow Goose ALBAKORA 1.000 1963 Poland St Vincent Tehuelche LASKARA 1.434 1972 Poland Argentina SUBTOTAL = 28 vessels GROSS TONNAGE = 69.190 GRT VESSELS DECOMMISSIONED Antares WLOCZNIK 2,584 1967(E) Poland N/A Gryf Pomorski GRYF POMORSKI 13,872 1966 Poland N/A Indus WLOCZNIK 2,584 1967(E) Poland N/A Jamno MIEDWIE 797 1962 Poland Sold Likodyn LASKARA 1, 460(E) 1970(E) Poland Sold Likomur LASKARA 1, 460(E) 1970(E) Poland Sold Morag MIEDWIE 797 1961 Poland Sold Pomorze GRYF POMORSKI 13,875 1967 Poland N/A Prof Bogucki KALMAR MOD A 2, 395(E) 1976(E) Poland N/A Prof Siedlecki# PROF SIEDLECKI 2,798 1970 Poland Scrapped Sniardwy MIEDWIE 797 1961 Poland Sold SUBTOTAL = 11 vessels TOTAL = 39 vessels GROSS TONNAGE = 43.419 GRT TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 112.609 GRT Sources U S Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993; Polanski, Z, Fishery in 1991," Bulletin nt the Sed Usheries Institute. No. 2, 1993 "The Polish N/A - Not available E- Estimated * The current owner is listed as Portugal ** The current owner is listed as the Russian Federation *** The current owner is listed as Poland # The current owner is listed as the United Kingdom. ## This world-renowned research vessel, built with the help of FAO 2 decades ago, was scrapped in 1992 Note The list does not include a trawler decommissioned by the GRYF company which fished in 1986 off the US. Atlantic coast (Lutjan) It also does not include 13 trawlers sold or decommissioned in 1991 which are listed in appendix 7. 244 Appendix lOA. Poland. Fishery vessels removed from the Polish registry in 1991. Number Vessel class Company/Vessel type Vessel name" GRT Year Built DALMOR: B-22 B-414 B-417 SUBTOTAL VESSELS: ODRA: B-20 B-18 B-418 SUBTOTAL VESSELS: GRYF: B-29 SUBTOTAL VESSELS: Carina 1 CARINA 2.645 1966 Antares 2 WLOCZNIK 2,584 1977(?) Indus 2.584 1976(?) Prof. Bogucki 1 4 KALMAR-A SUBTOTAL GRT: 2,395 1975(?) 10.208 Jamno 4 MIEDWIE 797 1962(?) Jasien MIEDWIE 797 1961(?) Morag MIEDWIE 797 1962(?) Sniardwy MIEDWIE 797 1962(?) Pletwal 1 FOKA 2,495 1964 Humbak 1 6 KALMAR SUBTOTAL GRT: 2,448 1971(?) 8,131 Likodyn 10 LASKARA 1,435 1969(?) Kabryl LASKARA 1.435(?) 1971 Likomur LASKARA 1.480(?) 1969(?) Laskara LASKARA 1,479 1968 Kantar LASKARA 1.480 1968 Kanaryjka LASKARA 1,480 1968 Korwin LASKARA 1.485 1969 Luzytanka LASKARA 1.435 1973 Kniazik LASKARA 1.482 1968 Kulbak 10 LASKARA SUBTOTAL GRT: 1,480(?) 1968(?) 14,671 20 VESSELS TOTAL 33.010 GRT Source: Polanski. Z. "The Polish Fishery in 1991," Bulletin of the Sea Fisheries Institute. No- 2. 1993, pp. 3-4. NOTE: All vessels were built in Polish shipyards. 245 Appendix 11. Poland. Construction of fishery vessels in Polish shipyards, by country and number of vessels: 1980. 1985-92. Country Year 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Number of vessels FISHING VESSELS Poland 13 - 1 1 2 7 10 USSR 8 8 1 1 2 7 6 3 1 7 Niger 7 Iraq i ..... . Netherlands - 1 2 1 1 - - Iran ------ 3 Iceland ----- 2 2 Faroe Islands - : : : ; : 2_ Subtotal 29 9 10 9 13 15 19 FISHERY TRANSPORTS Poland Cyprus 1 2 1 1 2 - 1 Subtotal 1 L 1 1 2 - 1 - TOTAL 30 11 11 10 15 15 19 10 1 Source Poland Ministry of Transportation. June 1993 Appendix 12. Poland. Construction of fishery vessels in Polish shipyards, by country and gross registered tonnage: 1980. 1985-92. Country Year 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 FISHING VESSELS Gross registered tons Poland USSR Niger Iraq Netherlands 1 27 2, ,326 .776 287 ,405 Iran Iceland Faroe Islani ds - Subtotal 31, 794 FISHERY TRANSPORTS Poland Cyprus 2, 297 3.861 3,862 356 8,580 16,449 1,743 5,061 10,564 - - - 144 1.106 948 316 5.559 442 942 498 n/a 4.027 143 158 360 600 1,640 778 572 6,001 6.546 9.565 12.026 11.168 18.475 4,785 143 6.471 8,864* 8,864* 17.750 - - - - 7,392 Subtotal 2T297 6~47T 064 87864 17.750 '- '- 77392 ~~ TOTAL 34709l 12,472 15.410 18.429 29,776 11,168 18,475 TOTT l43~ Source Poland, Ministry of Transportation, June 1993 * The 2 refrigerated transports built in 1986 and 1987 were of the KOCIEWIE class (see appendix 8), The 2 refrigerated fish transports and baseships of the KOCIEWIE class constructed in 1988 (a total of 17,750 gross tons), were reflagged to foreign registration The Kurpie went to Cyprus, while the Podlasia was reflagged to Liberia 246 Appendix 13. Poland. Inland, coastal, and distant-water fisheries, by FAO statistical areas; 1975. 1980. and 1985-1992. Area Year 1975 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1.000 Metric tons Inland (05) 23.3 18.7 28.9 29.4 30.7 34.2 34.2 45.0 48.0 51.0 Coastal (27) 333.7 235.7 179.0 158 1 138 7 127.6 119.7 112.0 103.9 104.9 Distant Water 21 187,6 4.6 7.9 7.1 7.6 11.9 9.3 0.5 31 3.0 - - ------- 34 92 3 78.8 - ------- 41 - 94.0 190 1 167.7 165.2 130.9 106.7 86.5 59.4 42.5 47 76.2 72.7 64.3 20.4 35.0 ----- 48 - 17.9 5.7 6.0 45 6.8 7.0 18 96 17.3 57 - 0.3 - _..---- 58 - 0.4 - ------- 61 - - 115.9 163.2 230.3 298.7 268.6 223.5 230.6 297.7 67 58.7 116 0 91.7 93.2 58.8 44.8 19.3 3.8 5.9 77 25.8 - - ------- 81 87 - 0.4 0.5 - - - 1.0 Subtotal 443.6 385.6 475 6 457.6 501.4 493.1 410.9 316 1 305 5 358.5 Total 800.9 644.0 683.5 645.2 670.9 654.9 564.8 473.1 457.4 514.4 Source: FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings: Rome, various years. Note: The totals may not add because of rounding. Key to FAO statistical fishing areas: 27 - Northeast Atlantic (includes Baltic Sea) 21 - Northwest Atlantic (off the United States and Canada) 31 - Western Central Atlantic (the Caribbean) 34 - Eastern Central Atlantic (off West Africa) 41 - Southwest Atlantic (off Brazil, Argentina, and the Falklands) 47 - Southeast Atlantic (off Angola, Namibia, and South Africa) 48 - Antarctic, Atlantic 57 - Eastern Indian Ocean (waters from Burma to Australia) 58 - Antarctic.Indian Ocean 61 - Northwest Pacific (off Russian Far Eastern Coast) 67 - Northeast Pacific (off the U.S. West Coast and Alaska) 77 - Eastern Central Pacific (waters between Hawaii and U.S. and Mexican coasts) 81 - Southwest Pacific (off East Australia and New Zealand) 87 - Southeast Pacific (off western coast of S. America. Chile, Peru) 247 Appendix 14. Poland. Fisheries catch off the Falkland Islands, by species and quantity: 1987-1992. Year Scecies 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 in metric tons Squid Loll go 24,280 7,569 10,134 6,579 11.234 9,275 Illex 19,618 32,852 19,753 3,382 7.234 7,250 Subtotal 43.898 40,421 29,887 9,961 18,468 16,525 Hake 1.396 543 1.613 457 218 49 Blue Whiting 46,908 42.486 30.073 49,649 23,920 14,901 Hoki 18,603 8,925 7,331 4,130 1,281 1,500 Other 952 1,167 242 83 32 12 Total* 111,757 93,542 69,146 64,279 43,908 32.987 Source Fa Ik lands Fisheries Department, 1993 * Includes 328 tons of illex and 5 tons of loligo. Appendix 14A. Poland. Squid fishing licenses received from the Falklands Government, by species, number of vessels, total catch and catch per vessel; 1987-1993. Species Loll go Illex Total Vessel s Ca Total tch Vessel* Vessels Catch Vessel s Catch Total Vessel* Tot; il Vessel* Number Metric tons Number Metric tons Number Metric tons 1987 12 24.280 2.223 14 19,618 1,401 26 43,898 1.688 1988 9 7,569 841 24 32,852 1,369 33 40,421 1.225 1989 3 10,134 3.378 24 19,753 823 27 29,887 1.107 1990 3 6,579 2.193 14 3,382 241 17 9.961 586 1991 3 11,234 3,745 17 7,234 426 20 18,468 923 1992 3 9.275 3,092 10 7,250 725 13 16,525 1.271 1993 3 NA NA 1 NA NA 4 NA NA Source; Falklands Fisheries Department. 1993 * The average catch per vessel 248 APPE^a)IX 15 AN AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLIC AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE POLISH PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC ON COOPERATION IN THE AREA OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY The Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of the Polish People's Republic, Guided by tlie principles of the long-term program for development of economic, scientific, and technological cooperation between the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and die Government of the Polish People's Republic for the period until the year 2000, signed in Moscow on May 4, 1984, Noting the positive results of prolonged cooperation between both counties in various areas of die fishing industry. Imparting important significance to the systematic increase of mutually beneficial economic, scientific, and technological cooperation on the stable agreed basis and to further enhancement and development of socialist economic integration in the area of fishing industry between both countries. Taking into account the provision on the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, signed, in particular, by the USSR and die PPR, Having agreed as follows: Article I The Contracting Parties shall implement economic, scientific, and technological cooperation in the area of the fishing industry along die following main directions: Exchange of information and consultation on issues of world fisheries and foreign economic activities of the Contracting Parties in the area of tlie fishing industry; Conduct of reciprocal fishing in maritime areas under the jurisdiction of each of the two countries in the field of fisheries in whicii their vessels have nonnally conducted such fishing in accordance with existing laws; Rendering reciprocal services in joint fishing areas by provisioning vessels with fuel, water, food, fishing equipment, fishing tackle, and in the transportation of fish products; Exchange of fish and fish products; Commercial fisheries in brackish and sea water; Mutual assistance in organizing and carry out repairs of vessels in fishing areas; Development and introduction of more effective methods of conunercial fishing fleet operations, technology, and equipment repair; Joint scientific research directed at discovering, conserving, and rationally utilizing living sea resources in maritime areas under the jurisdiction of each of die countries in the field of fishing and on the high seas; Forecasting the development of the fishing industry, including the conmiercial fishing fleet; 249 Research directed at improving and modernizing commercial fishing fleet vessels; Development and establishment of vessels technology, commercial equipment, and instruments and also equipment for coastal enterprises; Improvement of existing and development of new fishing gear and methods of catching fish; Automation of fish catching processes; The technology of production of high quality output from living sea resources; Mechanization and automation of fish product production processes; and Along other direction in areas of the fishing industry which represent mutual interests. Article 2 For the purposes of implementing the cooperation mentioned in Article 1 of this Agreement, the Contracting Parties shall: Develop five-year and annual economic, scientific, and technological cooperation plans for expert exchanges and organize fulfillment of these plans; Promote the establishment and increase of direct ties between appropriate bodies, organizations, and enterprises of both countries; In accordance with existing laws, permit each other's fishing vessels to conduct fishing in maritime areas under the jurisdiction of the appropriate Contracting Party in the field of fisheries and determine conditions for conducting such fishing; Establish joint enterprises, scientific and production cost accounting associations, and interim scientific-research collectives when necessary; Examine issues to organize joint foreign economic activity in the fishing industry area; Convene scientific and technical conferences and meetings on various fishing industry issues when necessary; Detennine tlie nature and scope of exchanges of specimens, statistical data, and other information which it may be necessary to provide during the course of implementing this Agreement; and Examine other issues of the fishing industry which represent mutual interests. Article 3 While carrying out economic, scientific, and technical cooperation, competent bodies and organizations of the Contracting Parties shall be guided by existing Agreements between the two countries on organizational, economic, and legal bases of cooperation, and also by active normative documents in relation of both countries developed within the framework of the CMEA (Council for Mutual Economic Aid). Realization of specific themes of economic, scientific, and technical cooperation shall be carried out on the basis of treaties and contracts concluded between competent bodies and organizations of tlie Contracting Parties. 250 Article 4 A Joint Fishing Commission, henceforth called the Commission, is being established to attain the goals of this Agreement. Each Contracting Party shall appoint its representative, his deputy, and a responsible secretary to the Commission and shall notify tlie other Contracting Party of their names during the course of the two montlis after this Agreement comes into force. Commission sessions shall be conducted when necessary but no less than once per year, alternately on the territory of the nation of each Contracting Party. Expenditures associated with conducting tlie session shall be borne by the Contracting Party on whose territory the session is being conducted. Expenditures associated with travel by session participants shall be bonie by the Contracting Parties who directs their travel. The Commission developed and adopts its rules of procedure and can introduce amendments to them when necessary. When necessary, the Commission forms auxiliary bodies on a permanent or interim basis and determines their tasks, power, and operating procedures. Article 5 The Conmiission examines all issues which arise while implementing this Agreement and presents appropriate recommendations to tlie Contracting Parties. Reconmiendations are adopted with the approval of representatives of tlie Contracting Parties and enter into force if neither of the Contracting Parties expresses nonconcurrence with them witliin two months. Decisions of the Commission on issues of a procedural nature enter into force from the moment of their adoption. Article 6 The Contracting Parties, taking into account tlie demands which result from this Agreement, may appoint their representatives on issues of cooperation in the area of the fishing industry within their diplomatic institution or consulates which are located in the USSR and PPR, respectively. Article 7 This Agreement does not affect the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties which result form bilateral or multilateral agreements in which they participate. Article 8 The Contracting Parties agree that, at the moment this Agreement enters into force, the following shall cease to be in force. The Agreement between the Government of the Union of Soviet Union Socialist Republics and the Government of the Polish People's Republic on Mutual Relations in the Field of Fisheries in the Baltic Sea of May 11, 1978; and 251 The Agreement between the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of the Polish People's Republic on Fisheries in the Barents Sea Adjacent to tlie Coast of the USSR of May 11, 1978. Article 9 This Agreement is subject to ratification in accordance with procedures established by the domestic laws of each of the Contracting Parties. This Agreement shall enter into force on the day that diplomatic documents are exchanged notifying of its ratification and shall remain in force until such time as either Contracting Party submits written notification of this desire to terminate it. In this case, the Agreement shall cease to be in force 12 months after receipt of such notification by the other Contracting Party. Termination of this Agreement shall not affect obligations of the Parties which result from treaties and contracts concluded during its execution by competent bodies, organizations, or enterprises of the Contracting Parties. Tliis Agreement can be amended or supplemented with the concurrence of both Contracting Parties. DONE in Moscow, December 15, 1987, in duplicate, each in the Russian and Polish languages, both texts being equally authentic. For the Government of the Union For the Government of the Polish of Soviet Socialist Republics People's Republic 252 .-H .-H >^ Ln o cz> o lT) r-H n cNj r-- c=3 oo n r-. ro CO CT\ o 1,0 ld oo CO ro CNJ CNJ v^ U^ rO CD CO CTi .— I CO CTi -^ CD -t^ lD CO O CNJ O CO lT) CD ^ T-H CO lO ■^ -Tj- CD CD ^ CTi CO CO .-H O^ CO CD ,— t CD r-( 1 GO CO C\J CO o^ CO CXI -"^ cr» is^ c:>r^ CO r-H C3 CT) CO CD CD CD CO CM CD CD CD O^ CO CD CZJ C3 CZ> CD CD CZ5 CD CD CD O CD CD cr> CD CO UO 3 CD CD ^ CD CD ro CD CO CO c o -t— r^ CD r-. C\J CD GO .— I CnJ ^ O -t- LO CO LD CD CO lO CD i/l CSJ LD CO CO ■I— (J> K/) dj CD cr> '^ CO CO : SI CD CO un CD GO C3 CD r-- -^d- '::t CD CO -(-> CU CO ■^ CD CD CD C7^ CNJ vt r-- r-H r-^ CNl CNJ iX) lO UD >^ • CD CO s: "O jD ^ Qj Oj O i_ ll <— ) 0; ■+- CZ £Z M- O ^ o L-T Oj TJ C n- 3 o o 1— Qj Q. CD fU i/l u CD CD CO CD .—I CD -^ CNI CNJ CD CD GOlO CT^ CO CO (T> kO .— < cr> CNJ CTi r^ CNJ vD Ln '^d" CO ■— 1 r-H ■^ r^ CD r-- CNJ r-~ Ln CO " < CZ> LO ^ 1 CD lO CNJ CD '^ 1^ ' CO CTi VD MD a> CNJ un r~~ CNJ Ln \X) ^ CNJ -^ un ■^ CNJ r-. in CO c3 CD CO un r-- 1 CD -t:± CNJ -X) r-- CD cotn -^ "^ ,350 r-.GOcrvcDr— tcNjcov+Ln"Xir--GOcr>cD r---r--r-.oococococooococoGOGOcri (TNC3^CT^OSC7SClSoSCTiO^Cr»CTvCr>CT>CT* -M Q_ in Q. U Qj ID O i/l u . — c u - ) r\j Oj ■<- o "O t-T M- fU C O i/i 5 O (U .- c . — cn+j o o c s_ .- Q- r- O +-J _c: Oj < O 254 4.4 ROMANIA Romania is adjacent to the Black Sea and its fisheries have been traditionally based on that body of water. In the 1960s, however, it began to buy high-seas fishing and fishery support vessels from the Soviet Union, Poland and the former East Germany. Along with the increase in fishery-vessel tonnage, its marine catch grew rapidly until the late 1970s when coastal countries began to extend their fishery jurisdictions to 200 nautical miles. The Romanian fishing industry could not adapt to the new conditions and Romania's catch began to stagnate and finally decrease rapidly. The fishing fleet aged and became more of a burden than an asset. The outlook for Romania's government-owned fishing industry is bleak and the lack of rapid privatization has helped to perpetuate its inbred inefficiencies. The fishing industry continues to try to meet its two principal goals: 1) to fully utilize its fishery fleet and thus maintain full employment of its fishermen, and 2) to earn hard currencies through the export of fishery products. CONTENTS I. Background 255 II. Fishing Fleet 256 A. High-seas Fleet 256 B. Black Sea Fleet 257 III. Shipyards 258 IV. High-seas Fishing Grounds and Catch 260 V. High-seas Fishery Organization 262 VI. Bilateral Fishery Agreements 262 VII. Fisheries Research 263 VIII. Outlook 263 Sources 264 Endnotes 265 Appendices 267 the fleet has to cross both the Bosphorus and I. BACKGROUND Gibraltar Straits to arrive at the Atlantic fishing grounds. The Republic ofRomania, a country with Romania had a traditional Black Sea a population of 23 million, has a coastline of fj^hery which was continued after World War 245 kilometers on the Black Sea. Its high-seas ^ !„ December 1947, King Michael fishing industry is mainly located in the port abdicated under communist pressure and a of Tulcea from where People's Republic of Romania was Table 1. Romania. Fishing fleet, by selected vessel capacity: 1993. Capacity Number GRT Average GRT 100-200 GRT Above 500 GRT TOTAL 7 50 57 863 220.669 221.532 123 4,413 3.886 Source U S. Navy. Office of Naval Intelligence. 27 July 1993, proclaimed. This meant the nationalization of the industry, including the small Black Sea fisheries. After the December 1989 revolution toppled the Ceausescu dictatorship, the Romanian fishing industry became independent of government control and had to restructure itself to survive. Since Ceausescu's fall, the Romanian Government has not extended any financial assistance to its fishing industry.' II. FISHING FLEET A. High-seas Fishing Fleet Romania began to build up its high-seas fleet rapidly during the 1960s and 1970s (appendix 1 and figure 1). Its first vessels were 2 stern trawlers of the CONSTANTA class -- named Constanta and Galati - purchased from Japan in 1964; one of these original trawlers (Constanta) is still part of the fleet today. The growth of the high-seas fleet was stimulated from 1971-1975 by a major government program to expand Romanian food production industries which earmarked 20 percent of all investment funds. Number of vessels □Support □ Fishing i-^at 4im£m yy 1 — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I — I I r '^^ Figure 1. Romania. High-seas fishing fleet. 1975-92. The Romanian fishing fleet register consisted of 57 units in July 1993. Of this total, 7 vessels were small (average tonnage was 123 gross registered tons (GRT)) and were thus probably deployed in the Black Sea fisheries (table 1). The other 50 vessels were large fishing trawlers and refrigerated fishery transports and baseships with a total gross tonnage of over 220,000 tons; they are capable of operating on distant-water fishing grounds. or about US$30 million annually, for fisheries development.- By 1973, the fleet had increased considerably to 20 stern trawlers, supported by 4 refrigerated transports, all of which were purchased in Eastern Europe.^ The Romanian high-seas trawler fleet continued increasing until the mid-1980s when it consisted of over 40 large stern factory trawlers (appendix 2). This number did not increase much during the next decade; in 256 1992, there were 41 such vessels, but by 1993, their number had decreased to 38 units/ The fisheries support fleet, however, continued increasing in the early 1980s and almost doubled by 1986, when the Romanian fisheries catch peaked. It has remained at 12 large units during the past 7 years, according to Lloyd's Register, even though the fishery landings have decreased by about 55 percent.^ This means that the productivity of the fisheries support fleet must have decreased by approximately 50 percent since 1986. In July 1993, the Romanian high-seas fishing fleet register consisted of 50 fishery vessels with a total gross tonnage of 221,000 tons. Of this total, 38 units are fishing trawlers (appendix 4), while 12 units are refrigerated transports (appendix 5) supporting the fishing operations. The trawlers have a capacity of between 2,000 and 4,000 GRT each; the 12 fishery support vessels of between 5,000 and 12,000 gross tons. Most of these vessels are over 10-20 years old and were built in the former East Germany, Poland, the former USSR, and Romania.* Despite the advanced age of most of its fishery vessels, it appears that Romania has done little retiring or modernizing of its vessels during the past few years. ^ While the Romanian high-seas fleet maintains 50 fishery vessels on the register, in reality only 30 vessels are engaged in distant- water operations. According to a May 1993 article by an official of the Romanian Development Agency, Anca Sfectcovici, at the present time, the Romanian high-seas fishing company deploys only 20 trawlers, 10 fishery transports, and 2 tankers in high-seas fisheries (table 1).* Table 2. Romania. High -seas fishery fleet actually deployed in fishing operations. May 1993. Vessel type Number GRT Average GRT Fishing trawlers Fishery transports Tankers Total 20 10 2 32 67 84 2 153 700 000 OOOCEst 700 3.385 8.400 ) 1.000 4.803 Source: Sfectcovici of Romania. , A. ■■ op. "The cit. Fishery 1993 Industry The 20 trawlers in operation are all of the PROMETEI class (also known as the super- ATLANTIK class-photo 1), the most modern and least aged stern factory trawlers Romania possesses. The remaining 18 trawlers are not used for fishing, according to Ms. Sfectcovici 's article, but they have not been de-registered, scrapped, or sold, as far as is known. Where these vessels are physically located is not known either. A French magazine reported in 1990, that these trawlers were "cannibalized" for parts, especially the sonar equipment, to maintain the super- ATLANTIKs in good operational condition. PROMETEIs are over 100 meters long, have engines with 3,800 horse power, and a can carry a crew of 85 persons. B. Black Sea Fleet In July 1993, Romania owned 6 fishing cutters and 1 small research vessel (Delfin) which were deployed in the Black Sea (appendix 6). In addition, Romania owns another 16 smaller (less than 100 GRT) fishing boats which were also deployed in the Black Sea. During the April to October 1993 257 Photo 1. Romania has 20 modem stern factory trawlers of the PROMOTEI class (3,900GRT). They were built in East Germany and Romania around 1980. season, however, only 13 vessels out of the total 23 units were active in Black Sea fisheries."^ Unless serious measures are implemented to remedy the situation, this fishery will yield less and less to Romanian fishermen. Romania's Black Sea coastal fishery does not contribute substantially to the country's overall fisheries catch (appendix 7, FAO statistical area 37). Even in 1986, Romania's best year for "coastal" catch, the Black Sea fishery contributed less than 6 percent of the total annual catch, while the inland (lakes, rivers, ponds, aquaculture, etc.) fisheries catch represented over 24 percent. The Black Sea has been becoming increasingly polluted and less favorable to commercial fishing. m. SHIPYARDS Romania has eight shipyards -- six on the Danube and the two largest ones on the Black Sea. They build a wide range of vessels for both foreign and domestic markets. Most Romanian fishing and fishery support vessels were built in the shipyards of other communist countries (see appendix 1 for 258 Photo 2. A giant refrigerated transport (11 ,755GRT) serviced Romanian fishennen operating in distant waters. Romania bought 4 of these vessels in East Germany during the 1970s. details) until 1980. At that time, the Romanian Government decided to begin building both types of vessels in domestic shipyards, thus becoming independent of other CMEA countries with which political relations became strained after Ceausescu's Romania several times chose an independent course in its foreign relations. The last 5 PROMETEI-class fishing trawlers were built in the Braila Shipyard on the Danube from 1980-1984 (appendix 1). The last 6 POLAR- class refrigerated transports and baseships were also built in Romania at the Galati Shipyard, which is also located on the Danube River (photo 2). The homeport of the Romanian high-seas fleet is in another Danube port - Tulcea. This was probably the reason why the Tulcea Shipyard was selected as the repair and maintenance shipyard for the Romanian high-seas fleet and remains so to this day.'° The Black Sea coastal trawlers are currently built in the Tulcea Shipyard; the 19th such vessel was nearing completion in March of 1989." More recent information is lacking.'^ 259 IV. HIGH-SEAS GROUNDS AND CATCH High-seas fishing by Romanian vessels began off West Africa in 1964 (as soon as Romania purchased 2 stern factory trawlers from Japan), on Georges Bank off New England in 1965, and in the rest of the Northwest Atlantic and off Labrador in 1969. The total catch increased from 8,000 tons in 1964 to over 76,000 t in 1973.'^ Following the implementation of 200-mile exclusive fishery zones in the late 1970s, however, the small fishery off the North American coast (FAO statistical area 21) was reduced to negligible amounts by 1980, and completely eliminated following the Americanization and Canadianization of those fisheries. In the Northeast Atlantic (FAO statistical area 27), the Romanians began a small fishery which yielded 3,700 t of fish in 1975. In 1977, however, when the EC countries extended their fisheries jurisdiction to 200 nautical miles, the Romanians, like the other Eastern European communist-bloc countries — including the Soviet Union — were expelled from EC waters and subsequently received no access permits. During the past 15 years, the Romanian fishermen operated only off West Africa in FAO statistical areas 34 and 47 (appendix 7). The fisheries in the waters of the FAO statistical area 34 are regulated by the Central Eastern Atlantic Fisheries Commission (CECAF). The Romanians fished mostly in the 200-mile zone of Mauritania with which they concluded a fisheries agreement in October 1973.'^ By June 1974, they agreed to establish a joint fishery venture in exchange for access to fishery resources in Mauritanian waters. Later that year, 9 large Romanian stern factory trawlers were deployed off Mauritania. These fishing grounds were the most important high-seas Romanian fishery for the past two decades. The annual catch was about 80,000 tons, but in 1987 and 1988, over 100,000 t of fish were harvested with a peak at 125,000 t in 1988 (appendix 7, figure 2). In recent years, the Romanian catch off Mauritania decreased considerably and amounted to only 57,000 t in 1992. its significance to Romania, however, increased greatly. Following the discontinuation of foreign fishing off Namibia in 1990, the fishery off Mauritania remains the only Romanian high-seas harvesting area. Frozen and whole, the catch from West African fishing grounds is transported by refrigerated cargo vessels back to Romania. These transports work on the fishing grounds for four years before they return home, although their crews may be exchanged by plane or ship every 6 months. The average catch per trawler was reportedly from 2,000 to 5,000 tons per year. Certain trawlers catch as much as 9,000 tons per year. The landings (horse mackerel, sardines, mackerel, and cod) were mostly sold on domestic markets. Following its independence on 21 March 1990, Namibia banned foreign fishing in its waters which left the Romanians with only one fishing ground: the one off Mauritania. How successful will this fishery be in the future? According to a French source, Romanian biologists noted a decrease of blackjack mackerel (trachurus), round sardinella (aurita), and mackerel on the high- seas off Mauritania in 1990.'^ Could the sharp catch decrease in 1992 be a sign of impending trouble? 260 In the Convention area of the International Commission for the Southeast Atlantic Fisheries (ICSEAF), the Romanians began fishing in 1970 with 3 stern factory trawlers and continued this fishery with 4 trawlers in 1971.'" The catch per unit of effort was so low (1.4 tons per hour of towing) that they discontinued this fishery for four years (1972-1975) and switched their operations elsewhere where the harvesting success was better. It was only in 1976 that the Romanian fishermen returned to southeastern Atlantic fisheries (FAO statistical area 47). The move was the result of the United States' — off whose coasts, on Georges Bank, they developed an active fishery — extension of its fisheries jurisdiction to 200 miles. About 15-20 stern factory trawlers were deployed in the ICSEAF area in the early 1980s. Most fished off Namibia (which was then known as Southwest Africa), but some also operated off Angola. Poor catch results in 1976 and 1977 (1.6 t per hour of towing) soon improved as the Romanian fishermen became more experienced; by the mid-1980s the Hgure i. r hourly catch exceeded 4 metric quantity: 1975-92. tons. reduced to only 12,600 tons in 1990, and completely terminated in 1991 (figure 2).'^ In 1991, Romanian fishermen landed 83,200 t of fish and shellfish from their distant-water operations in the North Atlantic off West Africa (Mauritania). This represented an increase of 10,000 t over the 1990 catch, despite the fact that the fishery off Southwest Africa (Namibia) had ceased that year. In 1992, however, the catch decreased by almost a third to 57,100 t, which represented only 30 percent of the 1986 1 ,000 Metric tons Convention Areas niCSEAF omania. Fishery catch in the ICSEAl' and CECAI* convention areas, by The grounds off Namibia and the Republic of South Africa used to be Romania's second largest fishery. This fishery peaked in 1986 with a catch of 109,000 t; by 1989 it was only a half of that amount. The overfishing of South African pilchard off South Africa caused the ICSEAF to reduce the catch quotas there. The Romanian fishery was heavily affected. catch, Romania's best year (appendix 7). li 1991 and 1992, the fisheries off the West African coast were the last Romanian distant- water fishery left. Despite these vicissitudes, high-seas fisheries contributed more than two-thirds of the total Romanian fisheries catch during the past three decades. This large percentage remained constant because the Romanian inland fisheries remained stagnant through 261 1990 when they began a steady decrease, while the Black Sea fisheries have been collapsing steadily, dropping to only 3,700 t by 1992 (appendix 7). The Romanian high-seas fisheries urgently need to diversify and find additional fishing grounds. In the past, the country's biologists conducted some exploratory fishing in the Mozambique Channel off eastern Africa and near the Island of South Georgia, but without satisfactory results.'* The recent decision by the Namibian Government to open its 200- mile zone to foreign fishing on January 1, 1994, has potential for Romanian fishermen. V. FISHERY ORGANIZATION Romanian state-owned fishery companies were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications until 1977 when they were placed under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The Marine Fisheries Company of Romania (IPO - Intreprinderea de Pescuit Oceanic) is located in Tulcea, on the Danube Delta, 60 kilometers from the Black Sea. IPO is the only high-seas fishing enterprise in Romania and owns the entire high-seas fleet. The December Revolution brought managerial independence to IPO. In 1990, its personnel attempted to reorganize their enterprise to improve working conditions, make it profitable, and adjust to autonomy from government control. Its vessels are largely aged and obsolete and the least efficient need to be decommissioned. IPO decided to concentrate its resources on the utilization of its 20 supertrawlers (PROMETEI class), 15 of which were built in the former East Germany with the newest 5 built in Romania itself and are 100 meters long. Its other 20 trawlers will be "cannibalized" for parts. To create better conditions for its workers, the IPO management will focus on the quality rather than the quantity of its products in an effort to retain the dwindling consumer market for fishery products.'*^ VI. BILATERAL AGREEMENTS In January 1958, Romania signed an agreement on cooperation in the Danube fisheries with Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. The Soviet Union, then the paramount political influence in Eastern Europe, joined as a signatory. A year later, in 1959, the USSR, Bulgaria, and Romania concluded an agreement on the Black Sea fisheries and established a Commission regulating them. In July 1962, the Soviet Union, Poland, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) signed in Warsaw an agreement on mutual cooperation in the development of high-seas fisheries. Romania and Bulgaria were co- opted into the agreement and participated in all annual plenary sessions, as well as in technical committees and working groups. Unlike Bulgaria, however, the Romanians bought their first high-seas trawlers in 1963 from Japan rather than from the Soviet Union. Whether the reason for this purchase was technical/commercial, or political, is not known. A glance at appendix 1, however, clearly shows that, except for 2 fishery transports in 1972, Romanian officials preferred to buy their fishing and fishery support vessels from Poland and the GDR. Later, in the 1980s, they began to build both types of vessels themselves. 262 In February 1978, Romania and the Soviet Union signed in Bucharest a bilateral fisheries cooperation agreement (appendix 8). The 5-year agreement^" established a Joint Commission to meet at least once each year alternately in Bucharest and Moscow. The Commission would coordinate the exchange of fishery experts and the exchange of results of exploratory and other fishery research, organize technical conferences, etc. One of its most important provisions (3rd) was the coordination of Romanian and Soviet high- seas fisheries in various world oceans.^' Whether Romania continued this agreement with the successor state of the USSR - Russia - is not known. The Romanian Government attempted to conclude bilateral agreements with various countries, including the United States," Iceland, and the Republic of South Africa, to regain access to fishing grounds. Canada responded positively, extending Romanian fishermen a 1990 catch allocation of 10,000 t of cod which was fished by 5 IPO supertrawlers." VU. nSHERIES RESEARCH The high-seas fisheries research is the responsibility of the Romanian Institute of Marine Research (RIMR), located in Constanta on the Black Sea. The RIMR was established in 1970 from 4 smaller organizations (2 biological stations and 2 laboratories). Administratively, the RIMR is under the National Council for Science and Technology which coordinates various research fields. The Institute has no specialized vessels for high-seas investigations and conducts fisheries research aboard commercial vessels during their regular deployment. Vm. OUTLOOK Romania's two principal goals for its high-seas fishing industry are the export of processed fishery products, and the full use of its fishing and fishery support vessels.""* Both will depend on the ability of Romanian fishery officials to negotiate access agreements for the high-seas trawlers and to provide efficient and speedy transportation of landed catch to domestic and foreign markets. As was the case in the past, the task of providing fishery protein to the population will fall mainly to the distant-water fleet. The inland fisheries will probably continue decreasing until environmental legislation prevents the pollution of local lakes and rivers. The Black Sea fishery has been decimated during the past 4 years and will probably remain at low levels until the problem of the jellyfish infestation of the Black Sea waters is over. Despite the fact that fish culture production has been halved in recent years, this sector of the fishing industry remains potentially promising because of its proximity to the consumers and relatively low investment needs. The number of the high-seas fishing trawlers has already been reduced by 50 percent and in view of the fact that Romania produces its own diesel fuel, their operation may prove to be profitable. They will most likely continue to operate off the West African coast, especially off Mauritania. In addition, a few trawlers may obtain permission from the Namibian Government to reenter the fishery inside the 200-mile zone of that country in 1994. 263 SOURCES FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, various years. Jezequel, Bruno. "Romanian Fisheries after the Revolution: the Slogan is Quality. " Le Marin (Rennes, France), 1 June 1990. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables , London, various years. Sfectcovici, Anca. "The Fishery Industry of Romania." Published in: The First East-West Fisheries Conference. 20-22 May 1993, St. Petersburg. Russia. London: Agra Europe, Ltd., 1993. U.S. Department of State, cable No. 154373, 11 June 1993. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. 264 ENDNOTES 1. Jezequel, Bruno, "Romanian Fisheries after the Revolution: the Slogan is Quality," Le Marin (Rennes, France), 1 June 1990; and U.S. Department of State, 11 June 1993 (cable No. 154373). 2. Journal of Commerce, (New York), 2 November 1970. The food production investment funds in the 5-Year Plan for 1971-75 amounted to US$ 750 million, or $150 million each year; 20 percent of this amount would be $30 million. Most of these funds were used to buy new fishery vessels in the former German Democratic Republic and in Poland. The Romanians were planning to deploy the new modem processing vessels in the Atlantic cod fishery off New England and sell the catch to U.S. fish-processing plants. Unfortunately, these plans went awry when the United States Government extended its fisheries jurisdiction from 12 miles to 200 nautical miles in late 1976. 3. Romanian fisheries delegation. Personal Communication, 5 December 1973. The actual number of Romanian stem factory trawlers was 18 at the end of 1973, but the Romanians probably included the 1 trawler which was on order in Poland and delivered in 1974. 4. Lloyd's Register of Shipping, Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, London, various years; U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI), 27 July 1993. The two sources have slightly different figures because ONI only shows the Romanian high-seas fleet as it existed on 27 July 1993 and does not include any trawlers which might have been decommissioned prior to that date. Lloyd's statistics, on the other hand, go only through June of 1992 when they show the number of high-seas fishing vessels at 41 imits; a year later the ONI count gives 38 such vessels, the "missing" 3 trawlers were probably decommissioned. No such discrepancies exist in the number of the 12 fishery support vessels, none of which has yet been decommissioned. Both Lloyd's (appendix 2) and ONI (appendices 1 & 4) have the same numbers. 5. Anca Sfectcovici of the Romanian Development Agency stated in May 1993 that only 10 fishery transports, having 84,000 GRT, support the high-seas fleet. Given the difference between this tonnage and the tonnage reported by Lloyd's in appendix 3 (about 95,000 GRT), it would appear that the 2 eliminated fishery transports were the 2 SIBIR-class vessels (Polar I and Polar 11). Their total gross tonnage is 10,240 GRT. 6. U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. 7. The Office of Naval Intelligence, in late July 1993, reported no knowledge of any Romanian vessels being reflagged or having been eliminated from the Romanian registry during the last 2 years. 8. Anca Sfectcovici, "The Fishery Industry of Romania." Published in: The First East-West Fisheries Conference, 20-22 May 1993, St. Petersburg. Russia, (London, Agra Europe, Ltd.), 1993. 9. Ibid. 10. U.S. Department of State, 11 June 1993. 11. Agerpres in English, 21 March 1989. 12. In 1989, the Tulcea Shipyard was modernized and reorganized so that it can now build vessels as large as 15,000 deadweight tons. It is not known whether it still builds the small Black Sea trawlers. 13. Romanian fisheries delegation. Personal Communication, 5 December 1973. 265 14. William B. Folsom and Dennis M. Weidner. Mauritania 's International Fishery Relations, published as Foreign Fisheries Leaflet No. 76-4 by the Office of International Fisheries, NMFS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, April 1997. 15. Jezequel, op. cit. 16. International Commission for the SE Atlantic Fisheries. Collection of Scientific Papers. Part II. Madrid, various years. 17. FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, various years. 18. Jezequel, op. cit. 19. Ibid. 20. The agreement entered into force on 3 February 1978. It remains in force automatically for successive 5-year periods unless one of the contracting parties advises the other, in writing, 6 months prior to the expiration of the agreement that it wants to withdraw. 21. Sbomik Dvukhstoronnikh Soglashenyi SSSR po Voprosam Rybnogo Khoziayaistva, Rybolovstva i Rybokhoziaystvennikh Issledovanyi. VNIRO, Moscow, 1987. 22. Romania had a GIFA with the United Stotes since November 1976, but it expired in December 1988. 23. Jezequel, op. cit. 24. U.S. Department of State, 11 June 1993. 266 Appendix 1. Roaania. Delivery of fishery vessels, fay nmtjer, class, gross tomage, and cfurttrf of construction; 1963-1987. Year NiJit>er Class GRT Built in Fishing vessels 1963 2 KONSTANTA 3,600 Japan 1968 2 CARINA 2,700 Poland 1969 1 CARINA 2,700 Poland 1970 2 CARINA 2,700 Poland ATLANTIK 2,600 GDR 1971 ATLANTIK 2,600 GDR 1972 ATLANTIK 2,600 GDR 1973 VEGA 2,600 Poland 1974 VEGA 2,600 Poland 1976 PROMETEI 3,900 GDR 1977 PRC3METEI 3,900 GOR 1978 PROMETEI 3,900 GDR 1979 PROHETEI 3,900 GOR 1980 PROMETEI 3,900 Romania 1983 PROMETEI 3,900 Romania 1984 PROMETEI 3,900 Romania 1987 PROMETEI 3,900 Romania Total=39 Si^iport vessels 1972 2 SIBIR 5,100 USSR LIEBKNEKHT 11,800 GDR 1973 LIEBKNEKHT 11,800 GOR 1978 LIEBKNEKHT 11,800 GOR 1979 LIEBKNEKHT 11,800 GOR 1980 POLAR 6,100 Romania 1981 3 POLAR 6,100 Romania 1983 2 POLAR 6,100 Romania Tot8l=12 Source: U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. GRT - Gross registered tonnage (given in approximate round figures) Note: This chronological list of additions to the Romanian high-seas fleet does not include vessels which might have been sold, scrapped or reflagged. It is known that one of the 2 KONSTANTA class trawlers (the Galati) is no longer operational, but its disposition is not known. 267 Appendix 2. Romania. Number of high-seas fishing and fishery support vessels, 1975-92. Year Fishing Support Total Number of vesseb 1975 26 4 30 1976 27 4 31 1977 30 4 34 1978 35 4 39 1979 37 6 43 1980 40 7 47 1981 40 8 48 1982 40 9 49 1983 42 10 52 1984 44 11 55 1985 43 11 54 1986 43 11 54 1987 43 12 55 1988 45 12 57 1989 45 12 57 1990 45 12 57 1991 45 12 57 1992 41 12 53 Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, Lx>ndon, various years. 268 Appendix 3. Romania. Gross roistered tonnage of high-seas fishing and Fishery support vessels, 1975-92. Year Fishing Support Total 1,000 Gross Tons 1975 69.2 34.0 103.2 1976 73.2 34.0 107.2 1977 84.4 34.0 118.4 1978 104.2 34.0 138.2 1979 111.3 58.5 169.8 1980 120.8 61.5 182.3 1981 120.0 69.8 189.8 1982 120.0 75.9 195.9 1983 126.7 82.1 208.8 1984 134.6 88.2 222.8 1985 130.7 88.2 218.9 1986 130.7 88.2 218.9 1987 130.7 94.4 225.1 1988 138.6 94.4 233.0 1989 138.6 94.4 233.0 1990 138.1 94.4 232.5 1991 138.1 94.4 232.5 1992 123.4 94.4 217.8 Source: Lloyd 's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, various years. 269 A|]pendix 4. Roawia. Hi^-seas f ishins traylers. by class, naae, gross tonnage, and cotntry and year of constrtjctian; 1993. Class/Vessel name Gross tonnage Country bui It Year built ATLANTIK- 8 vessels lalomita 2,657 GDR 1971 Jiul 2.657 GDR 1972 Milcov 2,657 GDR 1972 Mures 2.173 GDR 1970 Neajlov 2,156 GDR 1972 Si ret 2,657 GDR 1971 Sonies 2,657 GDR 1971 Trotes 2.657 GDR 1971 CARINA- 5 vessels Caraiman 2,681 Poland 1970 Cris 2.681 Poland 1970 Marea Niagra 2,715 Poland 1968 Negoiu 2,682 Poland 1969 Razelm 2,681 Poland 1968 CONSTANTA- 1 vessel Constanta 3,631 Japan 1963 PROMETEI- 20 vessels Amaradia 3,971 Romania 1984 Bahlui 3,931 GDR 1978 Bistrita 3,933 GDR 1976 Caliman 3,977 GDR 1977 Cerna 3,977 GDR 1976 Cindrelu 3.977 GDR 1977 Ciucas 3.977 GDR 1977 Costi la 3,977 GDR 1977 Crisul Alb 3.977 GOR 1979 Dimbovita 3.933 GDR 1979 Dorna 3.977 GDR 1976 Ji jia 3,931 GDR 1978 Magura 3,971 Romania 1983 Oltet 3,977 GDR 1979 Ozana 3,977 GOR 1978 Paring 3.930 Romania 1980 Putna 3,933 GOR 1976 Rarau 3.466 Romania 1987 Rodna 3,930 Romania 1983 T i rnava 3.933 GDR 1976 VEGA- 4 vessels Clabucet 2,632 Poland 1973 Inau 2.680 Poland 1973 Mindra 2,629 Poland 1974 Semen ic 2.631 Poland 1973 TOTAL = 38 vesse Is TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = 126.569 CRT Source: U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. 270 Appendix 5. Roaania. His^-seas fishery support fleet, by class, naae, gross tomage, and couitry and year of construction; 1993. Class/Vessel name Gross tonnage Country bui It Year built metric tons SIBIR- 2 vessel s Polar I 5.120 USSR 1972 Polar II 5,120 USSR 1972 KARL LIBKNEKHT- 4 vessels Polar III 11,755 GOR 1972 Polar IV 11,755 GDR 1973 Polar V 11,755 GDR 1978 Polar VI 11,755 GOR 1979 POLAR VII- 6 vessels Polar VII 6,140 Ron»nia 1980 Polar VIII 6,140 Romania 1981 Polar IX 6,140 Romania 1981 Polar X 6,140 Romania 1981 Polar XI 6,140 Rotnania 1983 Polar XII 6,140 Romania 1983 TOTAL = 12 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONMAGE = 94,100 Source: U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993 Appendix 6. Rcaania. Black Sea fishing fleet, by class, name, gross tannage, and country and year of construction; 1993. Class/Vessel name Gross tonnage Built in Year metric tons ULA 300- 7 vessels Del fin 120 Poland 1981 Dorada I 132 Poland 1982 Dorada II 132 Poland 1982 Morunul 107 Poland 1981 Steaua de mare 3 132 Poland 1982 TC01 120 Poland 1981 TC02 120 Poland 1981 TOTAL = 7 vessels TOTAL GROSS TONNAGE = riM GRT Source: U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 27 July 1993. 271 Appendix 7. Roaania. Inlaid, coastal, and distant-uater fisheries by FAO statistical areas; 1975. 1980, and 1985-1991. Area Year 1975 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1.000 Metric tons Inland(05) 46.7 52.7 58.5 65.8 66.9 77.3 66.8 48.2 40.5 34.5' CoastaU37> 6.3 10.3 14.3 15.8 14.0 14.0 13.8 6.3 1.2 3.7 Distant Water 21 27 34 47 51 1.8 3.7 78.1 0.1 77.5 33.0 86.0 78.5 0.5 165.0 80.6 108.9 116.7 66.8 125.0 51.4 87.5 56.6 61.6 11.6 73.2 83.2 83.2 57.1 Subtotal 83.6 110.6 189.5 183.5 176.4 144.1 57.1 Percentage** 61.2 63.7 69.4 69.9 69.4 65.9 64.1 57.3 57.3 66.6 Total 136.6 173.6 237.8 271.1 264.4 267.7 224.7 127.7 124.9 95.3 Source: FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, , various years . • Of this total, 25,000 tons was cultured freshwater fish, mostly conmon and grass carps. This total was only half of the cultured production in 1986. The reasons for this decrease are not known. ** High-seas (distant-water) fisheries catch as a percentage of the total catch. Note: The totals may not add because of rounding. 272 APPENDIX 8 AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNION OF SOVIET SOCIALIST REPUBLICS AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF ROMANIA ON COOPERATION IN THE AREA OF THE FISHING INDUSTRY. The Goverrment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Government of the Socialist Republic of Romania, --Proceeding from the friendly relations which exist between both countries, --Wishing to develop cooperation in the area of rational utilization and reproduction of fish stocks and improvement of fishing equipment and fish processing technology. Have agreed as follows: Article 1 The Contracting Parties agree to implement cooperation in the area of the fishing industry and for these purposes shall carry out measures directed at increasing the production of fish and fish products through their competent organizations to supply the demand in each of their countries on the basis of reciprocity. Soviet and Romanian competent organizations shall render mutual assistance in joint fishing areas, in particular, by means of an exchange of various types of operational materials and spare parts according to terms of contracts. Article 2 A Joint Coninission is established for the purposes of developing and carrying out measures for implementing this Agreement. Sessions of the Joint Connission shall be conducted when necessary but not less than once per year, alternately on the territory of each of the Contracting Parties with expenditures borne by the party on whose territory the session is conducted. The Joint Commission shall operate on the basis of the Charter developed and adopted at its first session. The Commission's first session shall occur not later than three months after this Agreement has entered into force. The Commission adopts reconmendations which enter into force after their approval by the Contracting Parties. Article 3 The Joint Commission fulfills the following functions: a) Develops and, after their approval, organizes implementation of plans of cooperation and mutual assistance in the area of the fishing industry, including plans for mutual exchanges of experts; b) Organizes mutual exchange of experience on issues of developing and reproducing raw material resources, increasing the productivity of fishing, intensification of fishing in domestic waters, processing technology, and increase of fish product production; c) Develops proposals for convening scientific and technical conferences and meetings on various fishing industry problems which are of mutual interest; d) Develops and organizes the conduct of measures directed at the development of Soviet and Romanian fisheries in various areas of the World Ocean; e) Determines the nature and scope of statistical and other materials presented by each of the Contracting Parties to the Joint Commission for the purposes of implementing this Agreement; and f) Examines other issues which represent mutual interests in the area of the fishing industry which the Commission may be charged with by the Contracting Parties. 273 Article 4 The reciprocal transfer of the results of scientific and technical research provided for by the plans of cooperation, scientific and technical docunentation, and specimens or models and materials, and also reciprocal exchange of experts and scientific researchers shall be carried out in accordance with "The General Terms for Carrying Out Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Collaboration between the USSR and the SRR" adopted by the Soviet-Romanian Conmission on Scientific and Technical Cooperation. Article 5 The provisions of this Agreement do not affect the right and obligations of the Contracting Parties which result from Agreements in which they participate. Article 6 This Agreement can be amended by the approval of both Contracting Parties. Article 7 This Agreement is concluded for a period of five years and enters into force upon signature. It shall remain in force for each successive five year period unless either of the Contracting Parties provides written notification of denunciation to the other no later than six months prior to the expiration of the current five year period. DONE at Bucharest. February 3, 1978, in duplicate, each in the Russian and Rootanian languages, both texts being equally authentic. By Authority of the Government of the By Authority of the Government of the Union of Soviet Republic of Republic Romania Socialist Republics 274 4.5 FORMER YUGOSLAVIA The Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ) ceased to exist in June 1991 when Croatia and Slovenia declared their independence. The country's fisheries were based on the Adriatic Sea except for a brief, unsuccessful attempt in the 1970s to enter the Atlantic tuna fishery. Most of its 2,000 kilometer-long Adriatic coast is now in the Republic of Croatia. The former SFRJ has had no high-seas fishing vessels since 1982. The newly formed states are not expected to expand into high-seas fishing in the near future. CONTENTS I. Background 275 II. Fleet 276 III. Modernization programs 276 IV. Fleet reduction 276 V. Shipyards 276 VI. International agreements 277 VII. Outlook 277 Endnotes 278 Appendices 279 shellfish annually (appendix 1), and I. BACKGROUND employed about 13,000 workers. By the end of 1991, the Food and Agriculture , . Organization (FAO) of the United Nations The former Yugoslavia supported a ^^j^^ estimated that the Yugoslavian catch small fishmg mdustry which harvests mostly ^^^^.^^^ ^^ 20,000 tons. In 1992, that sardines in the eastern part of the Adriatic ^. ^^^ ,i^^,y ^^^^ ,^^^^ j^ ^-^^ ^^ ^^^ Sea. The vast majority of Yugoslav vessels protracted fighting between the Croats and were concentrated in the inshore fishery in ^^^ ^^^^^ -^ ^j^^ ^^^^^^ p^^^j^^^ ^^ D^,^^^i^ territorial waters, but some 120 state-owned ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^j^^i ^^^ 1^^^ commercial vessels ventured further into the Adriatic' Earlier in the 1970s, the SFRJ Following the dissolution of the SFRJ in and Poland signed an agreement to set up a j^^^ y^g^ ^1^^ ^^^^^^y l^^^^^ ^^p -^^^ ^^^^ joint Atlantic fishing fleet of 23 vessels.^ independent republics; of these, only three As far as is known, the project was never ^^^^ ^ ^^.^^ ^^^^^. ^^^^^.^ Montenegro implemented. In recent years, before the ^^^-^^ -^ ^^ ^^e new "Yugoslavia"^) and eruption of civil war in 1991, the Yugoslav ^j^^^^j^ j^^ ^^^^^-^^ ^^^^^ j^ ^^ ^^^ ^^^ fishing fleet caught approximately 40,000 to ^ ^^ .773 kilometers, km) and Croatian 50,000 metric tons of marine fish and fisheries will dominate Adriatic fisheries in the future. The small Montenegrin coasdine (199 km) and the even smaller Slovenian littoral (32 km) will support some limited fishing, but mostly for domestic consumption. II. FLEET Yugoslavia had one high-seas vessel (615 gross registered tons, GRT) registered in 1975 and decommissioned in 1976 (appendix 2). From 1977 through 1981, Yugoslavia had two high-seas vessels, both registered at 1,047 GRT. These two vessels, tuna purse seiners built in Yugoslavia, were crewed by Dalmatian fishermen. They entered the tuna fishery off West Africa and transshipped their catch to a U.S. company in California. The venture was not successful for a variety of reasons and the U.S. company bought one of the seiners in 1980, and the other in 1981. Yugoslavia has had no high-seas vessels since 1982 (appendix 2). In December 1992, the Croatian fleet consisted of 17 fishing vessels with a total tonnage of 2,284 GRT. Slovenia had 8 vessels ( 1 ,016 GRT) and Montenegro owned 2 vessels (208 GRT). The small-tonnage Croatian fleet was, on the average, 21 years old and was supported by a small vessel (113 GRT) which was 37 years old. Slovenia's fishing fleet, which had no support vessels, was much more modern and younger (11 years on the average), while Montenegro's fleet was purchased only 5 years ago. III. MODERNIZATION PROGRAMS During the 1980s, the Yugoslav Federal Government expressed an interest in expanding and modernizing its fishing fleet. In 1986, it proposed the construction of 15 new vessels and the modernization of 61 others, the work for which was to be completed in Yugoslav shipyards.^ In 1987, Belgrade raised its catch targets by 60 percent to around 80,000 tons annually,^ and subsequently announced that it would add 26 new vessels to its coastal fishing fleet.* Judging by the FAQ catch statistics, these plans did not materialize and, instead of increasing by 60 percent, the Yugoslav marine catch decreased by more than 15 percent by 1991. IV. FLEET REDUCTION SFRJ has had no decommissioning schemes since it sold its last high-seas tuna vessel in 1981. Small vessels fishing in the Adriatic, however, are occasionally replaced. V. SHIPYARDS Several yards specialize in building vessels between 10 and 70 meters long and in modernizing vessels up to 1,000 GRT.'' Some of the shipyards were building small coastal fishing vessels both for domestic and foreign clients (Libya was one of them). Information on their recent activity is not available. 276 VI. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS Prior to its dissolution, the SFRJ had a bilateral fishing agreement with Italy governing fishing in the Adriatic. The agreement will probably be renegotiated by the Republic of Croatia. Slovenia has no bilateral fisheries agreement with Italy. Vn. OUTLOOK The authors do not expect Croatia, Slovenia, or Montenegro to expand into distant-water fisheries in the foreseeable future. The war has interrupted fishing activities and any investments in the development of fisheries. However, because the natural resources of the Adriatic are generally modest (the FAQ refers to them as "fully exploited"*), it is not impossible that Croatia will seek to expand its fishing grounds. 277 ENDNOTES 1. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Fishery Country Profile— Yugoslavia, January 1990. 2. Tanjug Press Agency, Belgrade, March 10, 1975, reported in BBC Summary of International Broadcasting- Eastern Europe, March 27, 1975. 3. Yugoslavia, though retaining the old name, now consists of only 2 republics: Serbia and Montenegro. 4. "Yugoslavia to Modernize Fishing Fleet," Eurofish Report, June 19, 1986. 5. "Yugoslavia Plans 60 jjercent Rise in Seafood Production by 1990," Eurofish Report, December 4, 1986, p. SP/9. 6. Tanjung News Agency, Belgrade, October 21, 1987, reported in BBC Review of International Broadcasting- -Eastern Europe, November 5, 1987. 7. "Yugoslavia to Modernize Fishing Fleet," Eurofish Report, June 19, 1986. 8. United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Fishery Country Profile— Yugoslavia, January 1990. 278 Appendix 1. Yugoslavia. Inland and coastal fisheries catch by FAO statistical areas: 1975. 1980. and 1985-1991. Area Year 1975 1980 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1.000 Metric tons Inland (05) 24.3 23.4 25.7 26.1 25.2 26.4 25.1 24.1 12.0 Coastal (37)* 32 3 35.0 49.3 51.4 56.2 45.3 46 7 41.3 23 6 Total 56.6 58.4 5.0 77.5 81 3 71 8 71 7 65.4 35.6 Source: FAO. Yeai "book of Pi shery Statistics: Catches and Landings. Rome, various yea rs. * Adriatic Sea fisheries. Note. The totals may not add because of rounding. 279 Appendix 2.-YUG0SLAVIA. Number and tonnage of high-seas fishing vessels, ranked by tonnage, 1975-92. 1 Year Gross Roistered Tons (CRT) Total 500-999 1,000-1,999 Over 2,000 CRT No. CRT No. CRT No. CRT No. 1975 615 1 - - - - 615 1 1976 - - - - - 0 0 1977 - - 2 2,094 - - 2 2,094 1978 - - 2 2,094 - - 2 2,094 1979 - - 2 2,094 - - 2 2,094 1980 - - 2 2,094 - - 2 2,094 1981 - - 1 1,047 - - 1 1,047 1982 - - - - - - 0 0 1983 - - - - - - 0 0 1984 - - - - - - 0 0 1985 - - - - - - 0 0 1986 - - - - - - 0 0 1987 - - - - - - 0 0 1988 - - - - - - 0 0 1989 - - - - - - 0 0 1990 - - - - - - 0 0 1991 - - - - - - 0 0 1992 - - - - - - 0 0 Source: Lloyd's Register of Shipping Statistical Tables, Lloyd's Register of Shipping, London, UK, various years. 280 PHOTOGRAPHS 281 282 00 00 'C|