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World  Fishing  Fleets 

An  Analysis  of  Distant-water  Fleet  Operations 
Past  -  Present  -  Future 


Volume 


Executive  Summary 


SH 

11 
.A2 

N67 
v.Ol 


NATIONAL  MARINE  FISHERIES  SERVICE 

National  Oceanic  and  Atmospheric  Administration 
U.S.  Department  of  Commerce 


0- 


Volume  I 

Executive  Summary 


0- 


00* 


s^^^  The  Office  of  International  Affairs 


'  rn 


^QOC 


°  Frederick  H.  Beaudry  /       ^^-  H.  q  i'^ 

William  B.  Folsom 


M7 


World  Fishing  Fleets: 

An  Analysis  of  Distant-water  Fleet  Operations 
Past  -  Present  -  Future 


Prepared  by  /    fjoTTi^T"- 

nf  Intprnatinnal  Affairs  /-— —  ^  ^ '"  A  V 


rA 


November  1993 

NCAA  Tech.  Memo.  NMFS-F/SPO-9 


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RATIONAL  MARINE  FISHERIES  SERVICE 

•v^  National  Oceanic  and  Atmospheric  Administration 

0  Silver  Spring,  Maryland 

"^  November  1993 


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WORLD  FISHING  FLEETS 

Executive  Summary 

Volume  1. 

1.0  World  Overview 1 

2.0    Regional  Suxninaries 3 

A.  Africa 3 

B.  Asia 3 

C.  Baltic  States 4 

D.  Canada 5 

E.  Commonwealth  of  Independent  States 5 

F.  Eastern  Europe 6 

G.  Latin  America 7 

H.  Western  Europe 10 

3.0  Appendix  Section 13 

Maps 13 

Photographs 17 

Statistical  tables 33 

Graphs 41 


m 


IV 


STATISTICAL  NOTE 


Statistics  prepared  by  international  organizations  and  governments  vary  in  their  reliability  from  excellent 
to  poor  and.  in  some  instances,  non-existent.  Different  reporting  methods  and  time  frames  can  produce 
minor  variations  between  different  sources  that  complicate  meaningful  comparisons.  Some  countries  collect 
data  on  powered  vessels  only;  some  include  non-powered  fishing  vessels  in  their  statistics.  Otlier  nations 
report  only  vessels  over  a  certain  tomiage  while  still  others  include  only  "decked"  vessels  (i.e.,  those  with 
a  deck  as  opposed  to  open  rowboats  without  a  deck).  Countries  also  change  their  reporting  methods  or 
periodically  update  their  data  for  previous  years.  The  authors  recognize  that  different  numbers  have 
been,  or  can  be,  cited  for  the  same  country's  fleet  for  the  same  year.  This  report  attempts  to  overcome 
tlie  problem  by  using  a  single  source  (Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping)  and  supplementing  the  information  with 
other  reliable  sources  as  available. 


EMPHASIS  ON  HIGH-SEAS  FLEET 


The  autliors  have  decided  for  the  purposes  of  this  study  to  defnie  high-seas  fishing  vessels  as  vessels 
of  500-gross  registered  tons  or  more.  The  authors  decided  to  use  this  definition  for  analytical  simplicity. 
Existing  data  sets,  such  as  diose  provided  by  Lloyd's,  give  worldwide  fleet  statistics  based  on  the  size,  but 
not  the  deployment  of  vessels.  Tlie  authors  have  had  to  rely  on  such  data  sets  because  compiling 
comprehensive  world-wide  statistics  from  national  statistical  reports  was  beyond  the  resources  available  for 
this  study.  The  authors  recognize,  however,  that  small  coastal  vessels  can  be  shifted  from  one  country  to 
another.  Many  countries  deploy  vessels  smaller  than  500-GRT  on  the  high-seas.  The  authors,  for  example, 
were  faced  with  the  problem  of  not  using  statistics  which  identified  high-seas  vessels  in  the  100-  to  499-GRT 
range,  because  these  vessels  were  below  the  500-GRT  cutoff  point.  Alternadvely,  some  countries  deploy 
vessels  larger  than  500-GRT  in  coastal  fisheries.  Tlie  authors  believe  that  focusing  on  vessels  of  500-GRT 
or  more,  from  one  respected  source,  provided  an  excellent  picture  of  basic  trends. 

We  have  used  the  term  "high-seas  vessel"  to  identify  vessels  over  500-GRT  that  fish  beyond  200-mile 
Exclusive  Economic  Zones.  As  indicated  above,  there  are  many  vessels  in  the  100-GRT  to  499-GRT  class 
that  fish  on  the  high-seas  or  that  fish  thousands  of  miles  from  their  honieports.  In  many  cases  we  used  the 
term  "distant-water"  to  identify  fishing  grounds  far  from  honieports  of  various  countries.  There  are  a  few 
instances  where  the  terms  may  overlap:  vessels  under  500-GRT  fishing  far  beyond  200-miles  and  vessels 
over  2,000-GRT  fishing  close  to  shore.  The  authors  have  attempted  to  differentiate  between  "high-seas"  and 
"distant-water"  fisheries  as  much  as  possible,  but  there  were  a  few  cases  where  the  authors  simply  did  not 
have  sufficient  information  about  certain  vessels  or  fisheries. 


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  this  project  was  to  identify  trends  and  the  results  obtained  through 
our  research  efforts  show  that  reflagging  has  increased  sharply  in  the  last  few  years. 


VI 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 


Numerous  individuals  have  helped  to  prepare  this  report.  The  overall  study  was  conducted  under  the 
direction  and  support  of  Dr.  Michael  P.  Sissenwine,  Senior  Scientist,  National  Marine  Fisheries  Service 
(NMFS)  and  Henry  R.  Beasley,  Director,  Office  of  International  Affairs,  NMFS.  Frederick  H.  Beaudry, 
Division  Chief,  International  Science,  Development,  and  Foreign  Fisheries  Analysis  was  responsible  for 
project  implementation  and  coordination,  and  he  was  the  Managing  Editor  for  the  document.  Research  and 
writing  of  the  different  volumes  was  coordinated  by  Frederick  H.  Beaudry  (Executive  Sunmiary,  Volume 
I),  Frederick  H.  Beaudry,  William  B.  Folsom  and  David  J.  Rovinsky  (coordinator  for  Africa  and  the  Middle 
East,  Volume  II),  Mark  R.  Wildman  (Asia,  Volume  III),  Dennis  M.  Weidner  and  David  L.  Hall  (Latin 
America,  Volume  IV),  Milan  Kravanja  and  Ellen  Shapiro  (Commonwealth  of  Independent  States,  Baltic 
States,  and  Eastern  Europe,  Volume  V),  and  William  B.  Folsom,  David  J.  Rovinsky,  and  Dennis  M. 
Weidner  (Western  Europe  and  Canada,  Volume  VI).  Each  of  the  principal  authors  was  assisted  by  the 
support  staff  and  special  thanks  are  due  to  the  following  individuals  for  tlieir  efforts  in  carrying  out  difficult 
research  assignments,  often  in  foreign  languages:  Sylvia  I.  Gaylord,  Seiko  Green,  Christine  Parker,  Tanya 
L.  Rasa,  J.  Daniel  Talliant,  Michael  Weiner,  and  Tracy  Yuen.  Special  gratitude  is  also  due  to  Nina 
Loewinger  and  Angela  Sonmia  for  their  editorial  skills  and  patience  in  proof-reading  these  complex 
documents.  Sincere  gratitude  is  also  extended  to  our  support  staff  during  tliis  period  of  intense  activity: 
Carolyn  McDonald,  Suzanne  Curtis,  Ruth  Ware,  and  Doretha  White.  Lance  Samuels  played  an  especially 
critical  role  in  producing  many  of  the  graphics. 

The  authors  wish  to  thank  the  many  individuals  outside  of  the  Department  of  Conmierce  who  contributed 
to  this  project.  The  Foreign  Service  Officers  and  Foreign  Service  Nationals  in  many  U.S.  diplomatic  posts 
were  extremely  helpful  in  obtaining  information  and  providing  useful  conmients  and  evaluations  of  our  draft 
documents.  The  Office  of  Naval  Intelligence,  U.S.  Navy,  provided  invaluable  data  and  other  information 
about  foreign  fishing  fleets  that  helped  identify  the  magnitude  of  reflagging.  Tlie  FAO  Deparmient  of 
Fisheries  in  Rome  provided  needed  statistics  on  both  die  fishing  fleet  and  catches.  Special  tlianks  are  due 
to  the  Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping  for  allowing  us  to  use  their  data.  Government  officials  also  gave  their  time 
and  energy  to  review  and  comment  on  this  work  and  their  support  is  highly  appreciated.  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. 


Frederick  H.  Beaudry 
Managing  Editor 
Silver  Spring,  Maryland 

November  1993 


Vll 


PREFACE 


This  report  provides  an  analysis  of  the  trends  in  the  world's  fishing  fleet  operations  using  information 
obtained  and  verified  from  a  variety  of  soiu-ces,  such  as  Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping,  die  Food  and 
Agriculture  Organization  (FAO)  of  the  United  Nations,  the  Office  of  Naval  Intelligence  (ONI)  of  die  United 
States  Navy,  and  U.S.  Diplomatic  Missions  overseas.  Several  recent  developments  have  focused 
considerable  attention  on  global  high-seas  fishing  fleet  activity  because  of  Uieir  potential  impact  on  the 
world's  living  marine  resources.  In  particular,  the  over-capitalization  of  the  world's  fishing  fleets  (Appendix 
1)  and  subsidies  to  portions  of  diat  fleet,  have  caused  the  world's  annual  catch  to  reach  approximately  100 
million  metric  tons  in  1989,  which  is  generally  diought  to  be  a  level  which  reaches  or  exceeds  the  annual 
maximum  sustainable  yield.  In  addition,  within  the  last  ten  years,  the  sustained  and  rapid  construction  of 
technologically  advanced  high-seas  fishing  vessels  capable  of  efficiently  harvesting  vast  quantities  of  fish  in 
short  periods  of  time  has  placed  stress  on  some  stocks.  The  United  Nations  moratorium  on  high-seas  large- 
scale  pelagic  driftnet  fishing  has  caused  some  of  the  affected  vessels  to  target  odier  fishery  stocks  using 
different  fishing  mediods.  The  straddling  stock  issue  presently  being  addressed  by  a  variety  of  international 
organizations  has  provided  some  unique  and  difficult  challenges.  The  illegal  fishing  widiin  certain  countries' 
200-niile  Exclusive  Economic  Zones  (EEZ)  and  die  reflagging  of  vessels  to  avoid  regulations  designed  to 
effectively  manage  and  conserve  fisheries  resources  are  significant  issues.  These  issues  are  rooted  in  die 
world's  demand  for  die  relatively  inexpensive  protein  provided  by  diese  fisheries  resources  and  die  potential 
economic  gain  that  can  be  obtained  by  fidfilling  that  demand. 

In  preparing  this  report,  the  audiors  had  substantial  leeway  in  conducting  the  analysis  for  their  particular 
region  since  considerable  differences  exist  in  the  type  of  fisheries,  such  as  coastal  or  high-seas,  employed 
by  die  countries  of  these  regions.  To  assine  as  much  accuracy  as  possible,  applicable  portions  of  each 
regional  draft  analysis  were  provided  for  review  and  comment  to  U.S.  Embassies,  Department  of  State, 
odier  U.S.  government  agencies,  and  foreign  government  and  diplomatic  officials.  Considerable  difficulty 
was  experienced  in  developing  the  analyses  for  die  former  Soviet  Union  republics  primarily  because  much 
of  die  data  was  either  non-existent  or  not  available  for  dissemination.  A  few  similar  situations  were 
encountered  widi  data  in  other  parts  of  the  world  and  die  audiors  noted  this  problem  in  dieir  analyses. 

With  respect  to  diis  valuable  and  renewable  resource,  the  worid  catch  peaked  at  100  million  metric  tons 
in  1989  and  has  since  declined  to  97  million  tons.  Most  experts  agree  diat  there  is  a  sustainable  harvest 
ceiling  to  what  was  once  diought  to  be  a  limidess  resource.  This  fact  poses  some  cridcal  challenges  for  die 
world  community.  Some  observers  believe  diat  die  fishing  industry  has  die  potential  to  expand  catches 
dirough  the  use  of  more  efficient  fishing  vessels,  gear,  or  mediods.  Odiers  desire  to  develop  fisheries  for 
underutilized  species  while  some  individuals  or  countries  view  aquaculture  as  a  major  soince  of 
supplementing  wild  stock  catches  from  die  sea.  However,  no  matter  what  dieir  beliefs,  most  of  die  world 
community  now  concedes  diat  overfishing,  biological  fluctuations,  variable  physical  oceanographic 
conditions,  increasing  pollution,  loss  of  marine  habitat,  expanding  harvesfing  efficiency,  and  other  factors 
can  have  a  major  impact  on  world  stocks  of  marine  fish  and  shellfish. 

In  some  cases,  brand  and  company  names  have  been  included  in  this  report.  It  is  not  die  policy  of  the 
U.S.  Department  of  Commerce  to  endorse  any  product  or  company.  The  inclusion  or  omission  of  any 
product  or  company  does  not  reflect  any  view  by  the  U.S.  Department  of  Commerce. 

The  regional  analyses  provided  by  diis  document  will  rapidly  lose  dieir  relevancy  as  die  world  fishing 
fleets  change  their  operations  in  response  to  ever-changing  political  and  economic  conditions,  and  resource 
availability.  The  audiors  thus  anticipate  diat  diis  document  will  require  substandal  updafing  widiin  die  next 
two  to  diree  years  to  reflect  diese  changes  and  thus  maintain  its  viability  as  a  useful  reference. 


vni 


This  volume  should  be  cited  as:  Beaudry,  Frederick  H.  and  William  B.  Folsom.  Executive  Summary 
(fishing  fleets).  Published  in:  "World  Fishing  Fleets:  An  Analysis  of  Distant-water  Fleet  Operations.  Past- 
Present-Future.  Volume  I."  Prepared  by  the  Office  of  International  Affairs,  National  Marine  Fisheries 
Service,  NOAA,  U.S.  Department  of  Commerce.  Silver  Spring,  Maryland,  November  1993. 


Prepared  by: 

Division  of  International  Science,  Development  and  Foreign  Fisheries  Analysis 

The  Office  of  International  Affairs, 

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 


IX 


WORLD  OVERVIEW 


World  harvests  offish  and  shellfish  peaked  at  a  record  100  million  metric  tons  in  1989,  but  declined  to 
slightly  under  97  million  metric  tons  by  1992.  A  ceiling  to  what  was  once  drought  to  be  a  limitless  resource 
poses  critical  challenges  to  both  fishermen  and  fishery  administrators  around  the  globe.  A  total  23,718  liigh- 
seas  fishing  vessels  registering  11  million-gross  registered  tons  (GRT)  operated  world-wide  in  1992.  Tliese 
high-seas  vessels  were  responsible  for  catching  much  of  the  approximately  82  million  tons  of  marine  fish  and 
shellfish  harvested  in  1992.  Medium-sized  (100-  to  499-GRT)  and  small  coastal  vessels  (under  100-GRT) 
also  caught  large  quandties  of  fish  and  shellfish  in  1992. 

Managers  of  national  fisheries  or  regional  fisheries  (such  as  the  European  Community)  have  reacted  to 
declining  catches  in  recent  years  by  imposing  stricter  management  regimes  or  by  seeking  opportunities  in 
distant  waters.  The  waters  around  Africa,  for  example,  are  an  important  source  of  fish  for  fishermen  fi-om 
Asia  and  Europe  alike.  Many  fishermen  are  looking  at  Latin  American  as  a  possible  future  area  for 
investment.  As  the  possibility  for  expansion  grows  smaller,  there  is  growing  pressure  to  seek  opportunities 
through  the  creation  of  joint  venture  operations  in  cooperation  with  other  countries.  Reflagging  is  another 
avenue  being  used  by  some  fishermen  to  gain  access  to  distant-water  fishing  grounds. 

CONTENTS 

I.    WORLD  OVERVIEW 2 

IL  REGIONAL  SUMMARIES 3 

A.  Africa     3 

B.  Asia 3 

C.  Baltic  States 4 

D.  Canada 5 

E.  Commonwealth  of  Independent  States  (CIS) 5 

F.  Eastern  Europe 6 

G.  Latin  America     7 

H.  Western  Europe    10 

III.  APPENDIX  SECTION 13 

A.  Maps 13 

B.  Photographs 17 

C.  Statistical  Tables 33 

D.  Graphs 40 


WORLD  OVERVIEW 


There  are  several  important  points  about  world 
fisheries  that  will  assist  the  reader  in  comprehending 
the  status  of  these  diverse  fisheries  and  fishing  fleets: 

WORLD  CATCH  IN  1991: 

(most  recent  complete  data  available) 

■  The  world  catch  was  slightly  under  97  million 
metric  tons  in  1991  and  is  projected  to  be 
approximately  the  same  in  1992. 

■  The  marine  catch  was  nearly  82  million  tons  (85  % 
of  the  world's  total  catch). 


WORLD  FISHING  FLEETS  IN  1992: 

■  There  were  an  estimated  23,718  high-seas  fishing 
vessels  registering  1 1  million-GRT  in  the  world  in 
1992  (see  Appendix  1  on  page  35). 

■  The  major  Asian  fleets  operated  an  estimated  4,000 
distant-water  fishing  vessels  in  1992. 

■  Tlie  Baltic  fishing  fleets  numbered  578  vessels, 
including  358  high-seas  vessels  in  1992.  The  high- 
seas  fleet  registered  slightly  less  than  1.2  million 
CRT,  accounting  for  the  bulk  of  the  registered 
tonnage. 


■  The  inland/freshwater  catch  was  slightly  over  15 
million  tons  (16%). 

■  African  countries  landed  3  million  tons  (4%)  of  the 
marine  catch  in  1991. 

■  Asian  countries  harvested  35  million  tons  (43  %)  of 
marine  fish  and  shellfish. 

■  The  Commonwealth  of  Independent  States 
(Russia,  Ukraine  and  Georgia)  fishermen  landed  over 
9  million  tons  (10%)  of  the  marine  catch  of  fish  and 
shellfish.  Tlie  Russian  Federation  harvested  6.7 
million  tons  of  this  total. 


■  The  East  European  fishing  fleet  (Bulgaria,  Poland, 
and  Romania)  owned  391  vessels  (579,000-GRT), 
including  159  high-seas  vessels  with  a  gross  toimage 
of  551,000-GRT. 

■  The  Commonwealth  of  Independent  States  fishing 
fleet  nimibered  an  estimated  3,144  vessels  (7.1 
million  GRT)  including  2,261  high-seas  vessels 
registering  6.8  million  gross  registered  tons. 

■  Tlie  West  European  fishing  fleet  nimibered  an 
estimated  109,000  vessels,  including  804  high-seas 
vessels  registering  868,000  gross  registered  tons  in 
1992. 


■  East  European  countries  (Poland,  Romania  and 
Bulgaria)  caught  less  than  1  million  tons;  their  catch 
decreased  drastically  in  recent  years. 

■  Latin  American  fishermen  harvested  over  15 
million  tons  (18%)  of  the  1991  marine  catch. 

■  North  American  nations  caught  over  8  million  tons 
(10%)  of  the  1991  harvest  of  marine  fish  and 
shellfish. 

■  West  European  countries  harvested  slightly  less 
than  1 1  million  tons  (13%)  of  marine  fish  and 
shellfish. 


REFLAGGING: 

■  200+  former  Asian  tuna  vessels  have  been 
reflagged  to  other  countries  in  recent  years. 
Information  about  other  fleets  is  not  available. 

■  16  vessels  having  a  total  tonnage  of  38,382-GRT, 
from  the  three  Baltic  Republics  were  reflagged, 
mostly  in  Eastern  Europe,  during  the  last  2-3  years. 

■  250-1-  vessels,  with  a  total  tonnage  of  over 
300.000-GRT,  have  been  reflagged  to  Latin  America 
countries  since  1986.  This  is  1/3  to  1/2  of  all  large 
fishing  vessels  operated  by  Latin  American  countries. 


■  All  other  nations  harvested  over  1  million  tons 
(2%)  of  the  catcii  of  marine  fish  and  shellfish. 


■   40-1-    Polish  vessels  were  sold  or  reflagged  to 
countries  all  over  the  world  by  1993. 


■  26  high-seas  vessels  (160,408-GRT)  from  Russia 
were  reflagged  in  Panama,  Cyprus,  and  other 
countries  in  1993. 

■  6  vessels  {18,945-GRT)  from  the  Ukraine  were 
retlagged  in  Panama,  Malta,  Russia,  and  Estonia  in 
1993. 

■  100+  vessels  from  Western  Europe  were  retlagged 
in  many  countries  (see  below)  in  1993. 

■  The  countries  used  most  frequently  for  registering 
reflagged  fishing  vessels  during  1990-93  include: 
Cyprus,  Honduras,  Malta,  and  Panama.  Belize, 
Cayman  Islands,  Dominican  Republic,  and  St. 
Vincent  play  a  lesser  role.  Information  about  Liberia 
is  not  available. 


II.  REGIONAL  SUMMARIES 


A.  AFRICA 

African  fisheries  range  from  artisanal  fisheries 
using  small  wooden  canoes  to  modem  high-seas 
vessels  equipped  with  the  latest  fisheries  technology. 
Fishing  grounds  also  vary,  from  the  rich  grounds  off 
Mauritania  to  the  relatively  nutrient-poor  waters  in 
the  western  Indian  Ocean.  The  waters  off  Africa 
have  attracted  foreign  fishermen  for  many 
generations,  especially  from  former  colonial  powers. 
Begimiing  in  the  late  1950s  and  early  1960s,  African 
nations  gained  independence  and  began  claiming 
authority  in  their  national  waters  from  their  former 
colonial  rulers.  This  process  was  accelerated  in  the 
1970s  as  many  nations  around  the  world  extended 
their  Exclusive  Economic  Zones  (EEZ)  to  200-miles. 
Some  former  colonial  powers  recognized  the  changes 
sweeping  the  continent  and  negotiated  bilateral  fishery 
agreements  in  some  of  their  former  colonies.  Some 
fishermen,  however,  continued  to  fish  illegally  in 
African  waters,  anticipating  that  most  African 
countries  did  not  have  the  enforcement  capability  to 
halt  illegal  fishing.  Limited  enforcement  capabilities 
remains  an  important  problem  in  most  developing 
nations  in  Africa  today. 


In  1977,  The  European  Community  (EC)  began 
negotiating  international  fishery  agreements  with 
various  African  states.  The  first  agreements  simply 
replaced  existing  bilateral  agreements  reached 
between  EC  member  states  and  their  former  colonies. 
Agreements  with  Mauritania,  Guinea  (Bissau), 
Guinea  (Conakry),  and  Senegal  were  among  the  first 
negotiated  in  West  Africa.  The  most  important 
agreement  was  signed  in  1988  between  the  EC  and 
Morocco  allowing  nearly  800  EC  vessels  access  to 
Morocco's  territorial  waters.  The  EC  has  gradually 
increased  the  number  of  international  fishery 
agreements;  in  1993,  a  total  of  19  agreements,  with 
payments  worth  nearly  $775  million,  have  been 
signed  with  African  and  Indian  Ocean  countries. 

African  states  also  negotiated  bilateral  fishery 
agreements  with  Japan,  Taiwan,  and  the  Republic  of 
Korea  in  the  1970s  and  1980s.  Asian  fishermen  were 
especially  attracted  to  tuna,  billfish,  cephalopods,  and 
whitefish  found  in  the  eastern  and  southern  Atlantic 
and  Indian  Oceans.  Agreements  were  also  reached 
with  Bulgarian,  East  Gennan,  Polish,  Romanian,  and 
Soviet  fishery  authorities  (prior  to  the  breakup  of  the 
USSR  in  the  1991). 

African  countries,  by  and  large,  have  not  become 
centers  for  reflagging.  Liberia,  however,  is  a  major 
flag-of-convenience  country  for  maritime  vessels 
throughout  the  world.  The  authors  have  no 
information  on  the  extent  of  reflagging  under  the 
Liberian  flag  by  fishing  vessels.  Today,  many 
reflagged  fishing  vessels  are  operating  out  of  South 
African  and/or  Namibian  ports. 

B.  ASIA 

There  are  four  major  Asian  distant-water  fishing 
fleets:  China,  Japan,  the  Republic  of  Korea 
(ROK),  and  Taiwan.  With  the  exception  of  China, 
these  fleets  have  fished  world-wide  for  over  30  years. 
China's  distant-water  fleet  emerged  in  the  mid-1980s 
and  is  likely  to  grow  for  the  foreseeable  future. 
Other  countries  in  the  Asia-Pacific  region  possess 
fishing  vessels  capable  of  distant-water  fishing 
operations,  but  these  vessels  operate  primarily  in 
their  own  waters. 

Japan,  the  ROK,  and  Taiwan  began  large-scale 
distant-water  operations  during  the  1960s.  These 
fleets  have  formed  an  impressive  global  distant-water 


fisheries  network  which  has  enabled  them  to  rank 
among  the  world's  largest  in  terms  of  vessel 
numbers,  tonnage,  and  catch.  Asian  distant-water 
fleets  focus  their  efforts  on  a  small  number  of 
commercially  valuable  species:  tuna,  squid,  shrimp, 
and  groundfish  (e.g.  Alaska  pollock). 

Fleet  statistics  from  Lloyd's  of  London  for  large 
distant-water  fishing  vessels  indicate  that  only  Japan 
is  significantly  reducing  its  fleet.  Official  data  for 
each  fleet  however,  indicates  that  reductions  are 
taking  place  in  Japan,  ROK,  and  Taiwan.  Fleet 
reduction  is  especially  prominent  witliin  the  Japanese, 
ROK,  and  Taiwan  trawler  fleets. 

Distant-water  catch  statistics  for  Japan,  ROK, 
Taiwan,  and  China  also  indicate  that  overall  distant- 
water  effort  has  peaked  and  is  decreasing,  probably 
for  the  foreseeable  future.  Distant-water  catch  for 
the  four  fleets  combined  decreased  nearly  20  percent 
from  1987  to  1991.  The  sector  which  has  shown  the 
most  dramatic  decrease  is  the  North  Pacific  trawler 
fishery. 

China  is  the  one  notable  exception  to  this 
"downsizing"  trend.  Tlie  Chinese  Government  is 
placing  great  emphasis  on  the  development  of  all 
sectors  of  Chinese  fisheries,  with  particular  emphasis 
on  the  distant-water  sector.  China's  plentiful  supply 
of  cheap  labor  gives  it  an  advantage  over  its 
industrialized  East  Asian  competition.  China  has 
acquired  a  significant  number  of  large  factory 
trawlers  in  the  past  few  years,  and  is  conducting 
distant-water  operations  primarily  in  Africa,  but  is 
also  active  in  South  America  and  Oceania.  All 
indications  are  that  China's  distant-water  fleet  will 
continue  to  increase  for  the  foreseeable  future  as 
China  attempts  to  reach  an  overall  fisheries  catch 
goal  of  20  million  tons  by  the  year  2000. 

Other  countries  in  the  Asia-Pacific  region  which 
possess  fishing  vessels  capable  of  distant-water 
fishing  operations  include:  Australia,  Bangladesh, 
Hong  Kong,  India,  Indonesia,  Iran,  the 
Democratic  Republic  of  Korea  (DPRK),  Malaysia, 
the  Maldives,  the  Federated  States  of  Micronesia 
(FSM),  Nauru,  New  Zealand,  the  Philippines,  the 
Solomon  Islands,  Sri  Lanka,  Thailand,  Vanuatu, 
and  Vietnam.  However,  with  the  exception  of 
distant-water  tuna  vessels  operated  by  Indonesia,  the 
Philippines    and    Vanuatu,    these    vessels    operate 


primarily  in  the  200-mile  EEZ  of  their  respective 
countries.  Vessels  from  these  three  countries 
concentrate  their  distant-water  fishing  efforts 
primarily  on  Pacific  Ocean  tuna  fisheries. 

The  early  1990s  is  a  time  of  transition  for  the 
Asian  distant-water  fishing  fleets.  Distant-water 
vessel  owners  from  the  developed  economies  of 
Japan,  ROK,  and  Taiwan  are  hiring  more  foreign 
labor  from  developing  countries  and  modernizing 
their  fishing  gear,  but  there  is  little  evidence  to 
suggest  that  diese  efforts  will  be  sufficient  to  make 
distant-water  fishing  a  viable  source  of  long-term 
revenue.  Increased  international  regulation  of  high- 
seas  fisheries  and  decreased  access  to  coastal  fishing 
grounds  serve  to  accelerate  a  process  where 
developing  Asian  countries  such  as  China  are  taking 
over  catch  operations  from  their  industrialized  Asian 
neighbors. 

There  are  indications  that  other  developing 
countries  in  the  region  may  become  increasingly 
involved  in  distant-water  fisheries.  India,  Indonesia, 
and  Iran  are  three  countries  with  significant  natural 
and  human  resources  which  are  currently  making 
plans  for  distant-water  fleet  development.  Iran  and 
Indonesia  are  concentrating  on  exploiting  tuna 
resources,  while  India  has  been  developing  a  trawler 
industry  geared  to  supplying  its  nascent  surimi 
industry. 

C.  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  themselves  now  have  to  secure 
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  Soviet  diesel  oil,  but  have  to 
purchase  it  widi  foreign  currencies.     The  difficult 


transition  from  a  command  to  a  free-market  economy 
has  been  exacerbated  by  tlie  need  to  reorganize  the 
administrative  staff  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 
significant.  To  counter  these  unfavorable 
developments,  the  Baltic  countries  have  concluded 
several  bilateral  fishery  agreements  and  have  begun 
to  reduce  the  gross  toimage  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  GRT.  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  tlie  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  to 
keep  the  Baltic  fishermen  employed. 

D.  CANADA 

Canada  is  not  a  participant  in  high-seas  fisheries 
although  it  maintains  an  active  interest  in  high-seas 
fishing  because  it  is  adjacent  to  some  of  the  world's 
richest  fishing  grounds.  Foreign  vessels  have  fished 
in  waters  off  Canada  since  the  fifteenth  century, 
shipping  home  thousands  of  tons  of  Atlantic  cod  and 
other  fish  and  shellfish.  Canada  and  France  have 
been  involved  in  complex  negotiations  since  both 
countries  extended  their  EEZs  to  200  miles;  the 
French  islands  of  Saint  Pierre  and  Miquelon  botli  lie 
close  to  Newfoundland  and  tlie  French  have  claimed 
rights  to  fish  in  these  waters.  Canada  has  also  been 
required  to  deal  with  countries  fishing  in  the 
Northwest  Atlantic  Fisheries  Organization  (NAFO) 


area  off  its  coast  and  with  fishing  fleets  operating 
beyond  Canada's  200-mile  EEZ  harvesting 
transboundary  stocks  of  fish.  Canadian  fishery 
officials  have  also  dealt  with  reflagged  vessels  (flying 
the  flags  of  Panama  and  Honduras)  appearing  off 
Canada  in  recent  years.  Canada  has  been  a  strong 
supporter  of  responsible  fishing. 

The  ouUook  for  Aflantic  Canada's  fisheries  is  not 
good.  Stocks  of  several  key  groundfish  species  have 
been  overfished  and  may  take  many  years  to  recover; 
it  will  require  a  mix  of  good  recruitment,  favorable 
oceanic  conditions,  and  reduced  fishing  to  allow  these 
species  to  recover.  Premature  fishing  could  delay  the 
recovery  process.  The  Canadians  can  be  expected  to 
maintain  strict  controls  over  fishing  in  the  next  few 
years  and  will  continue  to  champion  the  cause  of 
responsible  fishing  in  international  fora.  Until  stocks 
recover,  the  Canadian  Government  may  promote 
fisheries  aimed  at  developing  underutilized  species  or 
efforts  to  increase  the  value-added  component  of 
exisdng  fisheries.  The  outlook  for  Canada's  Pacific 
fisheries  remains  favorable. 

E.  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  tliat  only  two  republics  with  liigh-seas  fishing 
capabilities  remained  in  the  CIS  -  the  Russian 
Federation  and  Ukraine.  In  October  1993,  however, 
Georgia  also  asked  to  become  a  CIS  member. 

Russia 

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  stem  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  firom 
Russia  or  odier  countries).  In  addition,  the  bilateral 
agreements  which  were  formerly  negotiated  by  the 
Soviet  Ministry  of  Fisheries  were  no  longer 
necessarily  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  Ukranian  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  fi-om  the 
inability  to  provide  their  fishing  fleets  with  sufficient 
quantities  of  diesel  fuel  in  a  timely  maimer. 
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  tankers  did  not  reach  them  on 
time.  The  authors  of  the  regional  reports  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. 

Tlie  future  of  the  CIS  fishing  fleets  will  depend 
on  the  ability  of  the  tliree  countries  to  obtain 
necessary  fishery  resources  to  maintain  the  fleets' 


operations.  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  EEZ  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 
fimcdoning. 

F.  EASTERN  EUROPE 

The  three  major  fishing  countries  in  Eastern 
Europe,  Poland,  Romania,  and  Bulgaria,  have  been 
associated  witli  the  Soviet  Union  in  the  so-called  5- 
partite  agreement  (the  former  East  Germany  was  die 
fifth  member)  whose  purpose  was  to  help  each  other 
develop  high-seas  fisheries.  Although  the  Russian 
Federative  Soviet  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,  also  built  an  important  and 
productive  network  of  fishery  shipyards  which  built 
hundreds  of  vessels  over  the  past  five  decades. 

Romania  and  Bulgaria  are  both  adjacent  to  the 
Black  Sea  and  their  fisheries  have  been  tradidonally 
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 
Germany,  and  to  build  the  infrastructure  for  die 
processing  of  landed  fish.  Along  with  the  increase  in 
the  fishery  vessel  tonnage,  dieir  marine  catch  grew 
rapidly  until  the  late  1970s  when  the  coastal  countries 
began  to  extend  fishery  jurisdictions  to  200-iniles. 
Neither  Romanian  nor  Bulgarian  fishery 
administrators  were  able  to  adapt  themselves  to  the 
new  conditions.  As  a  result,  Uieir  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  tlie 
inbred    inefficiency    of    large    government-owned 


corporations.  The  Bulgarian  high-seas  company  was 
forced  into  bankruptcy  and  for  it  to  continue 
operations  it  will  have  to  be  bailed  out  by  government 
funds.  In  Romania  also,  the  industry  is  still 
govemment-ovraed  and,  like  everywhere  in  the 
former  communist  countries,  its  two  principal  goals 
are:  1)  to  maintain  the  full  use  of  the  fishery  fleet  and 
the  concomitant  full  employment  of  its  fishermen, 
and  2)  to  export  fish  to  earn  hard  currency. 

In  Poland,  the  high-seas  fishing  industry  has 
better  maintained  its  viability  and,  aldiough  the  catch 
has  decreased  somewhat  and  the  high-seas  fleet 
shrunk,  it  continues  to  maintain  a  powerful  presence 
on  the  world  oceans.  The  future,  however,  is 
uncertain.  Almost  the  endre  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  are 
seeking  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. 

The  Socialist  Federative  Republic  of  Yugoslavia 
(SFRJ)  ceased  to  exist  in  1991  when  Croatia  and 
Slovenia  declared  their  independence.  The  country's 
fisheries  were  based  on  the  Adriatic  Sea  except  for  an 
unsuccessful  attempt  in  the  1970s  to  fish  for  tuna. 
Yugoslavia  has  had  no  high-seas  vessels  since  1982. 
The  newly  formed  states  are  not  expected  to  expand 
into  high-seas  fisheries  in  the  near  future. 

G.  LATIN  AMERICA 

Few  Latin  American  countries  currently  conduct 
significant  distant-water  fisheries,  or  are  likely  to 
initiate  them  in  the  foreseeable  future.  Latin 
American  countries  conduct  mostly  coastal  fisheries, 
but  a  few  are  capable  of  distant-water/high-seas 
operations.  Chilean  fishermen  conduct  relatively 
limited  distant-water  operations,  but  the  country's 
dynamic  fishing  industry  is  gradually  expanding  liigh- 


seas  longline  operations  in  tlie  southeastern  Pacific 
and  trawl  fisheries  off  the  Falklands  and  other 
southern  Atlantic  islands.  Cuba  conducted  Latin 
America's  largest  distant-water  fishery  during  the 
1980s  on  various  Atlantic  and  Pacific  grounds.  The 
termination  of  the  Soviet  oil  subsidy,  however,  has 
forced  the  Cubans  to  end  almost  all  of  these 
operations.  Mexico  has  a  modem  fleet  of  tuna  purse 
seiners  which  is  capable  of  distant-water  operations. 
The  fleet  is  primarily  deployed  off  the  country's  own 
coast  and  off  neighboring  countries  in  the  eastern 
tropical  Pacific.  Some  vessel  owners  are  currently 
seeking  alternative  distant-water  grounds  because  of 
the  problems  associated  with  marketing  eastern 
Pacific  tuna.  The  Government  has  heavily  subsidized 
the  industry  in  the  past,  but  the  current 
Administration  has  terminated  such  support.  It  is 
unclear  if  Mexican  tuna  companies  will  be  able  to 
initiate  new  distant-water  fisheries  without 
Government  subsidies.  Venezuela  also  deploys  tuna 
seiners  in  the  eastern  tropical  Pacific  and  faces  many 
of  the  same  problems  Mexican  tuna  fishermen 
confront.  Venezuelan  fishermen  also  deploy  a  variety 
of  tuna  and  other  vessels  off  the  neighboring 
countries  in  the  Caribbean  and  on  the  Guianas  Banks. 

Foreign  fishermen  deployed  substantial  effort  off 
Lafin  America  during  the  1980s.  Foreign  catches 
peaked  at  about  2.5  million  tons  in  1989-90.  Much 
of  this  catch  was  harvested  by  the  heavily  subsidized 
state-owned  fleets  of  the  communist  countries 
(Bulgaria,  Cuba,  Poland,  and  the  USSR).  When 
the  Soviet  Union  disbanded  in  1991  and  the  Soviet  oil 
subsidy  was  no  longer  available,  these  countries  could 
no  longer  continue  to  support  unprofitable  distant- 
water  activities.  Other  countries  continue  much 
smaller,  but  more  lucrative,  operations.  Japan  and 
Korea  exhibit  remarkably  similar  fishing  patterns  off 
Latin  America.  The  two  countries  conduct 
substantial  longline  fisheries  for  tuna  and  billfish  off 
the  western  coast  of  South  America  and  shrimp 
fisheries  along  the  northern  coast.  They  initiated  a 
squid  fishery  off  the  Falkland  Islands  in  the  early  and 
mid  1980s  and  off  Peru  and  Ecuador  in  1990.  Both 
countries  reported  sharp  overall  catch  increases  off 
Latin  America  in  1991.  Taiwan  fishermen  also 
conduct  tima  longline  fisheries  and  initiated 
significant  squid  fishing  off  the  Falklands  in  1986. 
Spain  initiated  a  significant  squid  fishery  in  1986  off 


the  Falklands.  United  States  fishermen  have  reduced 
effort  in  recent  years  and  currently  conduct  only 
limited  longlining  in  the  Caribbean,  shrimp  trawling 
off  Guyana,  various  fisheries  off  Colombia,  and 
scattered  operations  off  other  countries. 

Latin  American  countries  pursued  highly 
restrictive  policies  toward  foreign  fishermen  during 
the  1970s-80s.  Most  countries  (especially  Brazil, 
Chile,  and  Mexico)  are  likely  to  continue  pursuing 
such  policies  during  the  1990s,  but  other  countries 
are  providing  access  for  foreign  fishermen  to  generate 
revenue  and/or  acquire  modem  fishing  vessels  and 
technology.  Argentina  began  to  license  foreign 
fishermen  from  non-communist  countries  (Japan  and 
Taiwan)  in  1992  under  a  new  vessel  charter 
arrangement  and  has  signed  an  agreement  with  the 
EC  that  may  provide  access  for  up  to  70  vessels  and 
allocations  of  up  to  250,000  tons.  As  part  of  the 
access  arrangements  most  of  the  vessels  would  be 
eventually  transferred  to  Argentine  owners.  The  EC 
agreement  and  vessel  chartering  arrangement  has  yet 
to  be  fully  tested  in  Argentina  and  it  is  unclear  if 
eitlier  will  become  a  long-term  policy.  Argentine 
officials  are  constrained  by  Falkland  policies  because 
both  are  granting  licenses  to  fish  shared  stocks. 
Colombia  licenses  about  150  foreign  vessels,  but  is 
unlikely  to  increase  catch  allocations  because  of 
resource  limitations.  Ecuador  has  since  1985 
permitted  18-32  foreign  vessels  to  operate  in 
association  or  under  licensing  arrangements  with 
domestic  companies.  The  Government  sharply 
reduced  the  number  of  licenses  in  late  1 992  because 
of  concern  over  squid  stocks.  The  Falkland  Islands 
has,  since  1987,  licensed  (mostly  4-6-montli  periods) 
about  300  foreign  vessels  annually.  The  income 
generated  has  become  a  major  revenue  source  for  the 
Falklands  Island  Government.  Falkland  officials  may 
have  to  curtail  future  allocations  because  Argentina  in 
1992  also  began  to  approve  charters  for  foreign 
fishermen.  Guyana  issued  over  100  fishing  licenses 
to  foreign  fishennen  in  1992.  Tlie  Govenunent  is 
unlikely  to  increase  the  number  of  liceases  issued  and 
has  been  gradually  reducing  the  number  in  recent 
years  due  to  resource  problems.  Panama  liceases 
foreign  tuna  vessels  and  issued  about  30  licenses  in 
1993.  Peru  has  provided  access  to  foreign  fishermen 
in  the  past,  but  domestic  fishermen  have  sharply 
criticized  such  arrangements.  Tlie  Fujimori 
Administration  has  reported  significant  income  from 
the  sale  of  about  50  (3-4  month  periods)  licenses 


annually  for  surplus  stocks  of  squid.  The  licenses  are 
offered  through  competitive  bidding.  The  Fujimori 
Administration  is  unlikely  to  increase  license  sales 
until  more  is  known  about  squid  stocks.  The 
Administration  also  faces  criticism  from  industry 
groups  opposed  to  foreign  fishing.  Suriname  has 
since  1985  annually  issued  120-180  licenses  to 
foreign  fishermen  (mostly  Japan,  Korea,  and 
Venezuela),  but  in  1992  issued  more  than  220 
licenses.  Trinidad  licenses  a  small  number  of 
foreign  fishermen  annually.  Since  1991  the  number 
has  varied  from  two  to  six. 

Many  foreign  owners  have  registered  their 
fishing  vessels  in  Latin  American  countries  to  obtain 
flag-of-convenience  registrations.  Such  registrations 
are  complicating  both  national  and  international 
fishery  management  efforts.  The  authors  have  only 
limited  data  on  the  extent  and  motivation  for  this 
acfivity.  The  number  of  vessels  and  capacity 
involved,  however,  is  significant.  Tlie  foreign 
distant-water  effort  is  especially  dismrbing  because 
the  fishermen  are  concentrating  their  effort  on  a 
relatively  small  number  of  high-value  species 
(billfish,  cod,  salmon,  squid,  swordfish,  tunas,  and 
others).  Most  of  these  species  are  already  heavily 
utilized  by  coastal  countries  and  the  growing  distant- 
water  effort  on  the  high  seas  thus  represents  a 
potentially  serious  threat  to  both  national  and 
international  management  efforts. 

Concentration  in  Latin  America:  Many  foreign 
vessel  owners  seeking  flag-of-convenience 
registrations  appear  to  have  selected  Latin  American 
countries.  The  authors  camiot  fully  explain  why  so 
many  foreign  owners  have  chosen  to  obtain  the 
registrations  in  Latin  America.  Otlier  countries 
(Cyprus,  Liberia,  Malta,  Mauritius,  Sierra  Leone, 
Singapore,  etc.)  also  register  foreign-owned  vessels. 
It  may  be  tliat  tlie  Latin  American  countries  offer 
more  secure  communication,  better  established 
bureaucratic  systems,  and  superior  financial  services 
than  the  African  countries  and  are  more  distant  from 
the  country  of  origin  than  countries  like  Cyprus, 
Malta,  and  Singapore.  Another  key  factor  is  that  two 
of  tlie  most  important  Latin  American  countries 
making  flag-of-convenience  registrations  (Panama  and 
Honduras)  still  maintain  diplomatic  relations  witli 
Taiwan  rather  than  China.  Such  relations  permit 
Taiwan     fishermen     seeking     flag-of-convenience 


registrations  to  more  easily  do  business  and  to  obtain 
assistance  from  their  Government. 

Country  selection:  The  primary  Latin  American 
coimtries  making  flag-of-convenience  registrations 
include:  Panama,  Honduras,  St.  Vincent,  and  the 
Caymans,  but  other  countries  also  register  smaller 
numbers  of  vessels.  Each  of  these  countries  decided 
to  offer  flag-of-convenience  registrations  as  an 
income-generating  activity.  Some  vessels  owners 
may  have  selected  countries  (Panama)  with  important 
banking  and  communications  hubs.  Some  countries 
(the  Caymans  and  Panama)  have  tight  bank  secrecy 
laws.  Otlier  choices  (the  Caymans)  offer  stable 
governments  and  dependable  legal  systems.  One 
country  (Panama)  even  uses  U.S.  dollars,  facilitating 
financial  dealings. 

Registrations  increasing:  The  licensing  of  fishing 
vessels  in  Latin  America  to  obtain  flag-of- 
convenience  registrations  appears  to  have  increased 
significantly  since  1986.  Lloyd's  data  suggest  that 
the  number  of  large  fishing  vessels  registered  in  the 
four  countries  increased  from  only  70  vessels  in  1986 
to  170  vessels  in  1992,  or  by  nearly  150  percent. 
While  the  Lloyd's  data  give  some  idea  of  annual 
trends,  they  probably  under-estimate  the  actual 
number  of  vessels  involved.  Some  countries  appear 
to  be  changing  their  vessel  registration  policies. 
Cayman  officials  modified  their  policy  in  1989  and 
no  longer  offer  flag-of-convenience  registrations  to 
foreign  fishing  vessels.  Honduran  officials  are 
currently  assessing  their  policy.  On  balance, 
however,  the  countries  involved  are  registering  an 
increasing  number  of  foreign-owned  fishing  vessels. 

Number  of  vessels:  The  number  of  large  fisliing 
vessels  (500-GRT  or  greater)  with  Latin  American 
flag-of-convenience  registrations  probably  totals  about 
250  vessels.  A  full  estimate  of  the  number  of  vessels 
involved  would  have  to  include  the  nearly  750 
medium-sized  vessels  (100  to  499-GRT)  which  have 
also  been  registered  in  Latin  America  by  foreign 
owners.  Some  existing  international  vessel  registries 
appear  to  under-estimate  significantly  die  number  of 
vessels  involved.  The  authors  estimate  that  a  Latin 
American  flag-of-convenience  fleet  totals  nearly 
1,000  fishing  vessels  as  of  November  1993. 

Catch:  Virtually  no  data  exists  on  the  catches 
achieved  by  the  flag-of-convenience  vessels.    Most 


fishermen  do  not  report  their  catch  to  the  country 
where  they  are  flagged  or  to  international  bodies. 
The  authors  estimate  that  the  large  flag-of- 
convenience  vessels  probably  catch  over  0.8  million 
tons  and  the  medium-sized  flag-of  convenience 
vessels  probably  catch  about  0.6  million  tons 
annually.  This  means  that  the  total  catch  of  the  Latin 
American  flag-of-convenience  vessels  could  total  1.4 
million  tons  annually.  This  is  a  huge  catch,  but  it 
may  understate  the  actual  impact  of  these  vessels. 
Since  disiant-water  operations  are  expensive  to 
conduct,  the  fishermen  involved  target  high-value 
stocks,  many  of  which  are  already  heavily  fished. 
Focusing  this  massive  effort  on  such  stocks  may  be 
having  a  major  adverse  impact  on  both  national  and 
international  management  efforts. 

Owners:  Many  flag-of-convenience  vessels  are 
owned  by  Taiwan  companies  or  overseas  Chinese 
located  in  other  countries.  Taiwan  owners  have  been 
especially  active  in  seeking  flag-of-convenience 
registrations.  This  is  partly  because  many  coastal 
countries  (especially  India,  Myamnar,  and  Sri  Lanka) 
recognize  China  and  tlius  refuse  to  grant  fishing 
licenses  to  Taiwan-flag  vessels,  or  allow  private 
companies  to  sign  joint  venture  or  leasing  contracts 
permitting  the  operation  of  Taiwan-flag  vessels. 
Companies  in  a  few  countries  (especially  Korea, 
Russia,  and  Spain)  have  also  registered  substantial 
numbers  of  fishing  vessels;  about  15  oUier  countries 
register  a  smaller  number  of  vessels. 

Deployment:  Few  reflagged  vessels  are  deployed  off 
Latin  America,  but  they  have  been  observed  on 
virtually  every  important  world  fishing  ground.  In 
most  cases  tlie  vessels  never  transship  their  catch 
through  or  call  at  die  ports  of  the  Latin  American 
country  in  which  they  are  registered. 

Transfers:  Some  vessels  are  deployed  widi  die 
knowledge  and  approval  of  the  originating 
government.  Some  officials  may  even  encourage  the 
practice.  In  other  cases,  the  originating  government 
is  concerned  over  tliese  reflaggings  and  has  neither 
approved  the  reflagging  nor  authorized  the  vessels  to 
conduct  high-seas  fisheries.  Russian  officials  in 
particular  are  troubled  about  die  transfer  of  state- 
owned  fishing  vessels  to  other  countries.  Tlie  vessels 
involved  were  the  property  of  Russian  state 
companies,  but  at  least  some  have  apparently  been 
transferted    widi    little    or    no    payment    to    the 


Government.  More  than  80  large  Russian/East 
European-built  vessels  have  been  transferred  to  Latin 
American  coimtries. 

H.  WESTERN  EUROPE 

West  European  fishing  fleets  harvest 
approximately  12-percent  of  the  world's  fish  and 
shellfish.  This  harvest  is  usually  sold  fresh  or  is 
processed  into  high-value  seafood  generating  billions 
of  dollars  in  world  markets.  European  fishermen 
operate  a  range  of  fishing  vessels,  from  small  coastal 
vessels  to  factory  trawlers.  Unlike  fishermen  from 
some  Asian  countries,  the  West  Europeans  tend  to 
fish  close  to  home  -  in  the  North  Atlantic  and  the 
Mediterranean. 

The  EC 

The  EC  has  worked  assiduously  to  negotiate  a 
network  of  fishery  agreements  on  behalf  of  its 
member  states  and  over  800  EC-flag  fishing  vessels 
currently  fish  from  various  ports  along  the  coast  of 
Africa  and  into  the  Indian  Ocean.  The  EC  is  now 
attempting  to  open  access  to  Latin  American  waters 
for  their  fishing  vessels  because  several  important 
stocks  of  North  Atlantic  fish,  such  as  Atlantic  cod, 
have  collapsed  in  recent  years.  This  has  placed  a 
tremendous  financial  burden  on  the  fishing  industries 
of  many  EC  coimtries  dependent  upon  fisheries  in  the 
North  Atlantic  region.  In  1993,  over  100  West 
European  vessels  were  reflagged  to  foreign  registry. 
This  number  could  double  if  EC  negotiators  are 
imable  to  obtain  access  to  Namibia  in  1994,  or  if 
Argentina  fails  to  ratify  the  bilateral  agreement 
allowing  EC  vessels  to  fish  in  its  waters  in  1994. 

Despite  a  fleet  of  nearly  800  high-seas  fishing 
vessels,  only  7-8  West  European-flag  vessels  are 
believed  to  be  fishing  on  the  high-seas  in  the  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  in  1993.  The  vessels  that  currently  fish 
the  high-seas  include:  the  German-flag  vessels  Jan 
Maria,  the  Dirk  Dirk,  and  the  Gerda  Maria  and  the 
Dutch-flag  vessels  Dirk  Diederick,  Franziska, 
Cornells  Vrolijk  Fzn,  and  Zeeland.  These  vessels  are 
built  to  roam  the  oceans  of  the  world,  catching  or 
"klondiking"  (buying),  processing,  and  freezing  up  to 
250  tons  of  herring,  mackerel,  or  horse  mackerel  a 
day.  One  tuna  purse  seiner,  the  Isabel  Tuna,  flying 
the  Cypriot  flag,  is  currently  fishing  in  the  Eastern 
Tropical  Pacific.  A  Spanish  tuna  purse  seiner,  the 


Monteclaro,  reportedly  sank  in  this  same  area  on 
July  14,  1993. 

EC  countries  may  redeploy  or  decommission 
over  200  high-seas  fishing  vessels  by  1996.  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  the  United  Kingdom  will  mainly 
redeploy  their  vessels  in  the  next  2  years,  but  some 
vessels  may  be  decommissioned.  Greece,  France, 
Germany,  and  Denmark,  will  mostly  deconmiission 
their  vessels.  Some  vessels  may  be  involved  in  joint 
ventiu'e  arrangements  allowing  the  transfer  of 
ownership  in  return  for  access  to  the  resource  for  a 
limited  period  of  time.  Most  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
vessels  will  be  deployed  off  Namibia  and  Argentina 
as  foreign-flag  vessels  fishing  with  coastal  state 
licenses,  or  as  part  of  a  joint  venture  arrangement 
with  companies  in  the  coastal  country. 

Argentina  -  The  EC  initialed  an  agreement  with 
Argentina  during  December  1992.  The  agreement 
was  a  major  policy  change  for  the  Argentines  who 
had  previously  imposed  restrictive  conditions  for 
access.  The  agreement  will  permit  70  EC  vessels  to 
fish  off  Argentina  under  various  joint  venture 
arrangements.  Most  of  these  vessels  will  be  Spanish. 
The  agreement  has  not  yet  been  ratified  by 
Argentina. 

Namibia  -  The  EC  has  not  yet  been  able  to  negotiate 
an  access  agreement  with  Namibia,  although  it 
remains  a  high  priority.  Namibia  has,  to  date, 
rejected  all  EC  offers  to  negotiate  a  fisheries 
agreement.  Namibia  ended  all  foreign  fishing  in  its 
200-mile  EEZ  when  it  became  independent  in  1991. 
This  affected  200  Spanish  and  10  Portuguese  vessels. 
Namibian  officials  now  report  that  the  country's  hake 
stocks  are  recovering  and  that  they  hope  to  market 
this  popular  fish  in  EC  markets.  They  will  require 
EC  concurrence  to  do  so.  It  is  likely  that  bilateral 
fishery  negotiations  between  the  EC  and  Namibia  will 
resume  in  1993  or  1994.  It  is  unknown  if  all  210  EC 
vessels,  which  fished  there  before  1991,  will  be  able 
to  remm  to  Namibian  waters.  Those  that  caimot  will 
likely  be  sold,  transferred  to  other  non-fishing 
operations,  or  scrapped. 

Indian  Ocean  -  The  EC  has  negotiated  a  series  of 
agreements  which  provide  access  for  EC  tuna  seiners 
to  Indian  Ocean  resources.  This  fleet  may  expand 
slowly  in  the  next  few  years,  especially  if  Italian 
vessels  join  this  fleet. 


10 


Pacific  -  It  is  likely  that  some  Spanish  or  French 
world-class  tuna  purse  seiners  are  fishing  in  tlie 
Westeni  Pacific  Ocean.  One  Spanish  tuna  vessel,  tlie 
Monteclaro,  sank  in  tlie  Eastern  tropical  Pacific  on 
July  14,  1993.  There  are  6  ex-Spanish  tuna  vessels 
currently  reflagged  in  Panama  which  may  be  fishing 
for  tuna  in  the  Pacific,  along  with  1  vessel  reflagged 
in  Malta  and  1  reflagged  in  Cyprus. 

The  EC  is  the  only  West  European  body  with  a 
major,  long-term  program  aimed  at  reducing  the  size 
of  its  fleet.  The  EC's  Multi-Amiual  Guidance 
Program  (MAGP)  is  a  10-year  effort  designed  to 
reduce  the  size  of  the  EC  fleet  by  1996.  Tliis 
program,  however,  is  primarily  aimed  at  reducing  the 
size  of  coastal  fishing  vessels,  although  some  high- 
seas  vessels  will  be  included.  The  MAGP  calls  for 
vessels  to  be  permanently  withdrawn  from  EC  rolls, 
through  transfer  to  non-fishing  status,  sale  to  third 
countries,  or  scrapping.  T/ie  number  of  EC  vessels 
that  will  be  decommissioned  ultimately  depends  upon 
tlie  success  of  EC  negotiators  in  gaining  access  to 
Namibian  waters  and  to  the  success  of  the  Argentine 
agreement  when  it  is  approved. 


cost.  Some  of  Greenland's  fleet  of  shrimp  trawlers 
and  cod  factory  stern  trawlers  could  be  sold,  though 
in  all  probability  to  other  Nordic  countries. 

Reflagging: 

Reflagging  is  becoming  significant  as  economic 
conditions  force  fishennen  to  seek  alternatives  to 
existing  fishery  management  regimes.  Danish 
fishermen  reflagged  a  few  vessels  in  Panama  in  an 
attempt  to  fish  wild  Atlantic  salmon  in  1989-91.  A 
Spanish  and  a  Belgian  firm  currently  charters 
Taiwanese  longliners  out  of  Honduras.  Cyprus  and 
Malta  have  become  important  centers  for  reflagging 
in  1993.  Belize,  Dominican  Republic,  Panama,  and 
St.  Vincent  are  all  attracting  West  European  vessel 
registration.  Norwegian  fishery  enforcement  patrols 
recently  encountered  several  Caribbean-flag  vessels 
fishing  for  cod  between  the  Russian  and  Norwegian 
200-mile  limits  in  international  waters  of  the  Barents 
Sea. 


Non-EC  countries: 

The  non-EC  countries  are  unlikely  to  deploy 
large  numbers  of  their  vessels  in  distant-water 
fisheries.  Tliese  countries  have  never  operated 
extensively  beyond  the  North  Sea  or  North  Atlantic 
or  Mediterranean  and  are  unlikely  to  initiate  such 
high-cost  operations  requiring  lengthy  trips  at  this 
time.  However,  individual  companies  may  seek  to 
fish  under  joint  venture  arrangements  in  distant 
waters,  such  as  off  New  Zealand,  South  Africa, 
Peru,  or  possibly  even  off  Russia.  The  shift  to 
distant  waters  will  depend  upon  the  recovery  of  cod 
stocks  in  the  North  Atlantic. 

The  authors  believe  that  approximately  30  non- 
EC  high-seas  vessels  could  be  sold  between  1 993  and 
1995.  Icelandic  fishermen  are  likely  to  sell  some 
used  vessels  to  reduce  operating  costs  of  companies 
adversely  affected  by  the  current  (1991-93)  decline  in 
cod  stocks,  which  are  not  expected  to  recover  until 
1996-98.  Norwegian  fishermen  may  also  sell  some 
vessels  during  1993-94.  Faroese  fishing  vessels,  in 
particular,  are  for  sale  at  attractive  prices.  The 
vessels  were  built  with  generous  state  subsidies  and 
are  now  being  sold  for  a  fraction  of  their  original 


11 


12 


III.  APPENDIX  SECTION 


A.  Maps 


13 


14 


Arctic  Region 


'.•1  ",666)  7  9? 


II.  APPENDICES 


B.  Photographs 


17 


18 


Photo  1.— Latin  American  fishermen  use  mostly  small  louMuI  ujjt/i,  but  are  acquiring  increasingly  larger 

vessels.  D.  Weidner. 


19 


20 


Photo  2. -Cuba's  high-seas  fleet  once  fished  throughout  Latin  America  from  the  modem  fishery  port  of  Havana. 

D.  Weidner. 


21 


22 


>/1 


to 

00 


OS 


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o 


i;V4^E!-jn'.'J.I^.AV-*-  I 


QIKTlIV  V.  2BS    -        >.IJ    ■  Md. 


32 


II.  APPENDICES 


C.  Statistical  Tables 


33 


34 


Appendix  1. -WORLD.  Fishery  and  fishing  support  fleets,  by  type  of  vessel,  number,  and  gross  registered  tomiage; 

for  vessels  over  500-GRT,  1975,  1980,  and  1985-92. 


Year 

Fishing  vessels 

Support  vessels 

Total  high-seas  fleet 

Number 

Tonnage 

Number 

Tonnage 

Number 

Tonnage 

1975 

18,217 

7,830,244 

723 

3,508,374 

18,940 

11,338,618 

1980 

20.671 

9,195,225 

852 

3,473,892 

21,523 

12,669,117 

1985 

21,251 

9,446.935 

852 

3,538,451 

22,103 

12,985,386 

1986 

20,974 

9,521,831 

865 

3,852,767 

21,839 

13,374,598 

1987 

21,267 

9,666,065 

875 

3,831,468 

22,142 

13,497,533 

1988 

21,827 

9,960,566 

879 

3,851,775 

22,706 

13,812,341 

1989 

22,149 

10,139,102 

881 

3,984,871 

23,030 

14,123,973 

1990 

23,132 

10,764,053 

989 

4,135,738 

24,121 

14,899,791 

1991 

23,581 

11,069,085 

1,032 

4,151,741 

24,613 

15,220,826 

1992 

23,718 

11,146,416 

702 

2,087,823 

24,420 

13,234,239 

Sources:  Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping.  Statistical  Tables.  London,  various  years.  The  data  are  completed  as  of  June  of 
each  year,  except  for  1992  which  is  effective  through  December  31,  1992.    World  Fleet  Statistics  (as  of  31  December 
1992).,  London,  1993;  page  25. 


35 


Appendix  2.--  Asia 

.  Distant-water  vessels,  by  type  of  fishery,  1985-91. 

Vessel  Type 

1985 

1986 

1987 

1988 

1989 

1990 

1991 

Number  of  Vessels 

China& 

N.  Pacific  Trawlers 

5 

NA 

NA 

5 

NA 

NA 

15 

Trawlers  ■  Other  Vessels 

1 

NA 

NA 

82 

NA 

NA 

183 

Tuna  Longliners 

Squid  Jiggers 

China  Total 

17 

NA 

NA 

87 

NA 

NA 

198 

Japan^ 

N.  Pacific  Trawlers 

97 

93 

95 

99 

100 

98 

70 

Trawlers  -  Other 

225 

213 

220 

215 

196 

182 

145 

Tuna  Purse  Seiners 

35 

38 

34 

39 

37 

35 

45 

Tuna  Longliners 

823 

818 

819 

807 

806 

791 

790 

Squid  Jiggers* 

174 

145 

151 

269 

324 

133 

113 

Driftnetters 

422 

445 

440 

428 

451 

359 

276 

Japan  Total 

1,776 

1,752 

1.759 

1,857 

1,914 

1,598 

1,439 

Republic  of  Korea® 

Otter  Trawlers 

233 

245 

230 

231 

221 

219 

146 

Shrimp  Trawlers 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

112 

Tuna  Purse  Seiners 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

32 

Tuna  Longliners 

280 

295 

338 

373 

387 

285 

285 

Squid  Jiggers 

33 

32 

35 

38 

46 

90 

98 

Driftnetters 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

90 

Other 

105 

104 

107 

119 

145 

188 

4 

ROK  Total 

651 

676 

710 

761 

799 

783 

771 

Taiwan* 

Trawlers  -  Other 

626 

573 

632 

670 

706 

719 

663 

Tuna  Purse  Seiners 

NA 

NA 

NA 

NA 

19 

35 

46 

Tuna  Longliners 

542 

610 

653 

698 

779 

841 

759 

Squid  Jiggers 

16 

19 

37 

62 

74 

77 

99 

Driftnetters 

3 

2 

2 

3 

12 

14 

14 

Other 

97 

106 

108 

135 

- 

Taiwan  Total 

1,284 

1,310 

1.432 

1,568 

1,709 

1,786 

1,613 

Grand  Total 

3.728 

3,738 

3.901 

4,273 

4,422 

4,167 

4,021 

&  -  Data  for  the  Chinese  fleet  conies  from  the  following  sources:  1985-various  reports  in  fisheries  press;  1988-f/.sAi>ig  News  Inlernatumal,  "China  Expands  Deepsea 
Fleet,   December  1988;  \99\-Fishing  News  International  .  "China  Expands  Deepsea  Fleet,"  January  1992. 

#  -  Data  for  the  Japanese  fleet  comes  from  the  Fisheries  Agency  of  Japan,  Cyogyo  Yoshokugyo  Seisan  Tokei  Nenpo. 

@  -  Data  for  the  ROK  fleet  conies  from  the  Ministry  of  Agriculture,  Forestry,  and  Fisheries.  Statistical  Yearbook  of  Agriculture .  Forestry  and  Fisheries. 

*  -   Data  for  the  Taiwan  fleet  comes  from  the  Taiwan  Fisheries  Bureau,  Fisheries  Yearbook-Taiwan  Area.   Taiwan  vessel  statistics  do  not  differentiate  between 
distant-water  and  other  fisheries.   This  table  gives  the  number  of  all  powered  Taiwan  fishing  vessels  greater  than  lOOGRT,  nio.st  of  which  are  believed  to  be  distant- 
water  fishing  vessels.   Many  distant-water  driftnet  vessels,  however,  were  less  than  lOOGRT  and  are  not  counted  here. 


36 


Appendix  3.--  Asia 

Distant-water 

catch,  by  type 

jf  fishery,  1985-91. 

Vessel  Type 

1985 

1986 

1987 

1988 

1989 

1990 

1991 

Metric  tons 

China 

N.  Pacific  Trawlers® 

1,600 

3,200 

16,529 

18,419 

31,139 

27,826 

121,254 

Trawlers  -  Other& 

22.419 

88,845 

88,947 

104,729 

100,000 

100,000 

100,000 

Tuna  Longliners 

- 

- 

Squid  Jiggers 

- 

- 

China  Total 

24,019 

92,045 

105,476 

123,148 

131.139 

127,826 

221,254 

Japan 

N.  Pacific  Trawlers 

543,654 

810,348 

864,163 

790,913 

683,656 

422,180 

152,374 

Trawlers  -  Other 

388,716 

447,895 

552,730 

549,703 

475,194 

402,771 

333,076 

Tuna  Purse  Seiners 

139,697 

156,749 

136,899 

168,617 

140,594 

158,874 

169,493 

Tuna  Longliners 

232.704 

229,035 

201,781 

216,483 

169,405 

169,364 

180,357 

Squid  Jiggers* 

234.334 

215,557 

416,189 

405,111 

436,523 

95,194 

124,069 

Driftnetters 

140,963 

121,773 

165,058 

130,283 

141,263 

145,342 

86,566 

Japan  Total 

1,680,068 

1,981,357 

2,336.820 

2,261,110 

2,046,635 

1,393,725 

1,045,935 

Republic  of  Korea 

N.  Pacific  Trawlers 

494,455 

610,274 

454,492 

304,343 

362,099 

312,218 

177,400 

Trawlers  -  Other 

95,741 

104,281 

131,373 

129,676 

150,928 

163,486 

181,360 

Tuna  Purse  Seiners 

11,279 

27,732 

58,752 

79,397 

115,754 

173,343 

227,518 

Tuna  Longliners 

93,090 

95,401 

87,437 

81,726 

64,213 

69,524 

47,074 

Squid  Jiggers 

11,809 

45,917 

86,311 

92,359 

120,854 

88,843 

150,039 

Driftnetters 

58,623 

43,028 

62,852 

84,267 

113,173 

99,587 

62,912 

ROK  Total 

764,997 

926,633 

881,217 

771,768 

927,021 

907,001 

846,303 

Taiwan 

Trawlers  -  Other 

162,650 

179,530 

202,471 

260,002 

228,155 

201,273 

184,890 

Tuna  Purse  Seiners 

50,380 

52,011 

55,683 

114,617 

117,164 

124,599 

107,062 

Tuna  Longliners 

119,232 

151,233 

146,414 

147,615 

139,113 

155,921 

134.574 

Squid  Jiggers 

48,966 

50,945 

115,249 

129,177 

117,717 

88,254 

124,176 

Driftnetters 

55,512 

46,282 

67,930 

62,146 

118,131 

163,146 

142,308 

Taiwan  Total 

436,740 

480,001 

587,747 

713,557 

720,280 

733,193 

693,010 

Grand  Total 

2,905,824 

3,480,036 

3,911,260 

3,869,583 

3,825,075 

3,161,745 

2,806,502 

-  Data  for  1985-90  are  catch  statistics  submitted  by  Chinese  Government  to  multilateral  negotiations  on  Central  Bering  Sea  fisheries.    1991  data  is  from 
Food  and  Agriculture  Organization  of  the  United  Nations,  Fishery  Statistics-Catches  and  Landings,  1991 . 

&  -  Data  for  1980-88  comes  from  Jie,  et.  al,   "Reform  and  Development  of  China's  Fisheries."   The  data  for  1989-91  are  estimates  based  on  numerous 
fishery  press  reports  which  report  average  annual  distant-water  trawler  catch  to  be  approximately  100,000  tons. 
*  -  Japanese  squid  jigging  statistics  include  coastal  and  off-shore  catch  until  1990. 

Sources:  Fisheries  Agency  of  Japan,  Gyogyo  Yoshokugyo  Seisan  Tokei  Nenpo.;   Ministry  of  Agriculture,  Forestry,  and  Fisheries  (ROK),  Statistical 
Yearbook  of  Agriculture,  Forestry  and  Fisheries.  ;  Taiwan  Fisheries  Bureau,  Fisheries  Yearbook-Taiwan  Area. 


37 


Appendix   4.  -Western  Europe.  High-seas  fishing  fleet  versus  total  fishing  fleet,  1975-92. 


Year 

High-seas  Vessels 

Total 

High-seas 

Fleet 

Regional  Fleets 

Total    Fleet 
(estimated) 

EC 

Non-EC 

EC 

Non-EC 

Number  of  Vessels 

1975 

406 

392 

798 

52,539 

57,036E 

109,575 

1976 

390 

416 

806 

52,606 

53,336E 

105,942 

1977 

367 

416 

783 

52,357 

54,354E 

106,711 

1978 

342 

436 

778 

52,613 

55,864E 

108,477 

1979 

322 

435 

757 

51,893 

58.455E 

110,348 

1980 

309 

419 

728 

50,826 

59.559E 

1 10,385 

1981 

295" 

388 

683 

81,578 

32.037E 

113,615 

1982 

279 

374 

653 

82,667 

30,379E 

113,046 

1983 

260 

367 

627 

83,229 

30,176E 

113,405 

1984 

260 

374 

634 

91,602 

29,526E 

121,128 

1985 

255 

376 

631 

93,125 

27,933E 

121,058 

1986 

458^ 

172 

630 

85,919 

27,1 15E 

113,034 

1987 

518 

166 

684 

97.943 

26,124E 

124,067 

1988 

584 

189 

773 

96,662 

24.894E 

121,556 

1989 

607 

197 

804 

95,211 

21,385E 

116,596 

1990 

623 

203 

826 

91.209 

20,122E 

111,331 

1991 

648 

209 

857 

96,173 

20,95  IE 

117,124 

1992 

591 

213 

804 

90,000E 

19,000E 

109,000 

Sources:  Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping  Slalislinil  Tnhles.    Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping,  London,  UK.  vanous  years  (higli-seas  fleet  only); 
Fishery  I-'leei  Slalisiirs.  Bulletin  of  L'ishery  Statistics.  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization  of  the  United  Nations,  Rome,  various  years; 
Annual  Report  nn  German  h'isheries.  Federal  Ministry  of  Food,  Agriculture  and  Forestry.  Bonn,  various  years;  Krsheretning 
reilkommende  Norges  l-iskerier.  Fiskeridirecckloralel.  Fiskeflaten.  various  issues.  L'evolution  du  serteur  helge  de  la  peche  nuiritime, 
Conseil  Central  de  I'Hconomie.  Commission  Consultative  Speciale  de  la   Peche.  Bruxelles.  various  years;  Sea  Fisheries  Statistical  Tables, 
Governinenl  Statistical  Service.  London,  various  years.  (E)  =  Estimate. 


''  Greece  joined  the  EC  on  January  1,  1981. 

'  Portugal  and  Spain  joined  the  EC  on  January  1,  1986. 


38 


Appendix   5. -Western  Europe.  Tomiage  of  high-seas  fishing  fleet  versus  total  fishing  fleet,  1975-92. 


Year 

High-seas  Vessels 

Total 

High-seas 

Fleet 

Regional  Fleets 

Total   Fleet 
(estimated) 

EC 

Non-EC 

EC 

Non-EC 

Gross  Registered  Tons 

1975 

426,461 

404,716 

831,177 

1,196,624 

1,509,440 

2,706,064 

1976 

392,446 

431,252 

823,698 

1,188,878 

1,619,659 

2,808,537 

1977 

389,624 

434,630 

824,254 

1,165,496 

1,549,149E 

2,714,645 

1978 

366,058 

349,200 

715,258 

1,153,254 

1,565,767E 

2,719,021 

1979 

344,274 

441,728 

786,002 

1,092,701 

1,697,414 

2,790.115 

1980 

331,040 

421,947 

752,987 

1,087,586 

1,713,220 

2,800,806 

1981'^ 

319,446 

395,300 

714,746 

2,140,995 

566,210E 

2,707,205 

1982 

287,969 

386,260 

674,229 

2,118,966 

516,575E 

2,635,541 

1983 

262,469 

378,969 

641,438 

2,098,895 

506,497E 

2,605,392 

1984 

255,160 

386,204 

641,364 

2,081,182 

514,830 

2,596,012 

1985 

241,520 

389,110 

630,630 

2,055, 355E 

519,237E 

2,574,592 

1986= 

465,167 

152,922 

618,089 

1,985,861E 

588, 893 E 

2,574,754 

1987 

532,580 

155,501 

688,081 

2,056, 117E 

702,774 

2,758,891 

1988 

614,683 

187,081 

801,764 

2,020,37  IE 

542,199 

2,562,570 

1989 

650,488 

203,620 

854,108 

1,984,634E 

532,663 

2,517,297 

1990 

669,643 

209,252 

878,895 

1,997,934E 

530,525E 

2,528,459 

1991 

718,416 

214,663 

933,079 

1,994,030E 

508,289E 

2,502,319 

1992 

645,860 

222,635 

868,495 

1,900,000E 

500,000E 

7 ; TTTT 

2,400,000 

Sources:  Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping  Slalislical  Tables.    Lloyd's  Register  of  Shipping.  London.  UK.  various  years  (high-scas  fleet  only): 
Fishery  Fleet  Statistics,  Bulletin  of  Fishery  Statistics.  Food  and  Agriculture  Organization  of  the  United  Nations.  Rome,  various  years: 
Amiial  Report  on  German  Fisheries,  Federal  Ministry  of  Food.  Agriculture  and  Forestry.  Bonn,  various  years;  krsheretning 
vedkommende  Norges  Fiskerier.  Fiskeridireccktoratet.  Fiskeflaten.  various  issues.  L'evolmion  du  serteur  helge  de  la  peche  maritime, 
Conseil  Central  de  I'Economie,  Coinmission  Consultative  Speciale  de  la    Peche.  Bruxelles.  various  years:  Sea  Fisheries  Statistical  Tables, 
Government  Statistical  Service.  London,  various  years.  (E)  =  Estimate. 


"   Greece  joined  the  EC  on  January  1 ,  1 98 1 . 

°  Portugal  and  Spain  joined  the  EC  on  January  1,  1986. 


39 


40 


II.  APPENDICES 


D.  Graphs 


41 


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