one of the largest fishing vessels in Europe and 

 demonstrates that Swedish shipyards can produce 

 world-class fishing vessels. 



6. International Agreements 



The extension of 200-mile fishery zones in the 

 mid- 1970s prompted Sweden to establish its own 200- 

 mile EEZ on January 1, 1978. This gave Sweden 

 control over approximately 160,000 square kilometers 

 of ocean, mostly in the Baltic where Sweden has a 

 long tradition of fishing. It also required Sweden to 

 negotiate maritime boundaries with its neighbors, 

 including Finland, the Soviet Union, Poland, the 

 German Democratic Republic, Denmark, and 

 Norway. In addition to settling their maritime 

 boundaries, the Swedish government also negotiated 

 a series of bilateral agreements with its neighbors 

 which permitted Swedish fishermen to fish in many 

 of their traditional fishing grounds in exchange for 

 foreign access to Swedish waters. Sweden and the 

 Soviet Union, for example, negotiated an agreemnt to 

 divide the "white zone" in the Baltic Sea in 1988. A 

 joint protocol was signed on December 12, 1988, 

 ending years of conflict. The dissolution of the 

 Soviet Union and the reestablishment of Latvia, 

 Estonia, and Lithuania as independent states has 

 produced 4 separate bilateral fishery agreements in 

 the area." Sweden and Poland signed an agreement 

 in 1993 allowing 20 Swedish vessels to fish for 

 herring and sprat and 4 Swedish vessels to fish for 

 salmon within the Polish 40-mile EEZ. No 

 information was made available on what Polish 

 fishermen received from Sweden." 



Fishing in the Baltic Sea is also coordinated by 

 the International Council for the Exploration of the 

 Sea, which establishes total allowable catches on an 

 annual basis for its member states. Quotas for the 

 Baltic Sea are set by the International Baltic Sea 

 Commission in Warsaw. The Baltic Sea Fishery 

 Commission reduced catch quotas for cod to 23,900 

 tons in 1992, which amounted to a reduction of 

 nearly 41 percent. Sweden also negotiated access 

 agreements to the North Sea with the European 

 Community and with Norway. Access and fishing 

 quotas in the Skagerak are established through annual 

 tri-lateral talks with the EC, Sweden and Norway. 

 Access to the Kattegat involves bilateral talks between 

 Sweden and the European Community. 



Sweden applied for membership in the European 

 Community in July 1991, and negotiations began in 

 the spring of 1993 with the goal of accession by 

 January 1, 1995. Sweden is likely to face the 

 prospect of reducing its fishing fleet when it joins the 

 EC according to a 90-page report prepared by the 

 EC." Sweden would be bound by EC regulations 

 once it joins the body and negotiations with other 

 countries will thereafter be the responsibility of the 

 EC. Swedish fishermen, however, will also be in a 

 position to resume fishing in grounds belonging to the 

 EC and will be able to take advantage of some 

 agreements concluded by the EC with other 

 countries. Thus, the future holds promise for a 

 leaner fishing industry, but one that will have access 

 to more fish. 



7. Fleet Dispersal Plans 



The Swedish high-seas fleet has grown modestly 

 since 1988 when only 3 vessels were registered with 

 more than 500-GRT. These vessels are mostly 

 coastal craft that are built to withstand the rigors of 

 fishing in northern waters and are not necessarily 

 designed for fishing in distant-waters. The fleet now 

 consists of 7 vessels. It is unlikely that these vessels 

 will move to distant fishing grounds in the near 

 future. 



SOURCES 



Aimex to the Worldwide Fisheries Marketing Study: 

 Prospects to 1985 (SWEDEN), Industry, Trade 

 and Commerce, Fisheries and Oceans, Ottawa, 

 November 1979. 



Cole, Bruce. "Management rebuild Sweden's fishing 

 industry," National Fisherman, July 1979. 



Eurofish Report, various issues. 



Fagerblad, Bo. Economic Section, U.S. Embassy, 

 Stockholm, Sweden, fax dated August 11, 1993. 



"Fisheries in Sweden," Fact Sheets on Sweden, The 

 Swedish Institute, November 1978. 



Svensk Fisk, Ekonomisk Forening cited in European 

 Supplies Bulletin, Annual Data, 1992, Sea Fish 

 Industry Authority, Edinburgh, 1993, p. 47. 



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