has greatly increased, whereas the catch of North Atlantic, Japanese and 

 Mexican anchovy has remained at approximately the same level (see Table 

 8). 



Among the Clupeidae, the ocean herring, menhaden, and sardines are 

 of greatest commercial significance. 



The catch of all Clupeidae at the present time consists primarily 

 of ocean herring (Atlantic and Pacific), with the Atlantic yielding the 

 greatest number (Table 9). The population of both species fluctuates 

 widely under the influence of both natural factors and fishing. 



In recent years, the reserves of most schools of Atlantic and 

 Pacific herring have been deeply depressed, their total catch dropping 

 by 50% between 1966 and 1975, to 2.5'10" t. Such reserves of herring as 

 the Arctic-Norwegian, Korf-Karaginskiy, Sakhal in-Hakkaido, Gizhiga, etc. 

 once so numerous have been completely exhausted and no longer support 

 any significant commercial fishing. There is a real danger that, unless 

 effective measures are taken in the next few decades, it may prove 

 impossible to restore many populations of herring, and a further 

 reduction in their reserves will occur. Some twenty nations are 

 involved in fishing for Atlantic herring, but the greatest catches 

 during productive years were those of the USSR (700-780 •10'^ ), Norway 

 (1.2-10^ t), Iceland (770-10-^ t) and Denmark (280-360-10-^ t). The 

 Pacific herring is caught primarily by the USSR (320-460 -lO^ t), Japan 

 (about lOO'lO-^ t) and Canada. The 1 ittoral-estuarine menhaden is found 

 along the Atlantic coast of the USA and in the Gulf of Mexico, is fished 

 exclusively by American fishermen and is used for the preparation of 

 nutrient flour. 



Sardines are traditionally fished by Portugal, Spain, Morocco, 

 France, Italy and other countries; the size of the sardine catch has not 

 significantly changed in recent years (Table 10). 



Furthermore, beginning in 1971, an increase has occurred in the 

 population of the Japanese sardine or ivasa, which, during the prewar 

 years (1939-1940) supported an annual catch of about 2 million tons. In 

 1976, its catch reached 0.8 'lO" t, and there is every reason to believe 

 that it will continue to increase in the future. However, in the next 

 few years, as a result of further reduction in the catch of sardines and 

 sardinella off the coast of Africa, the decrease in the population of 

 Atlantic and Pacific herring, the decrease in the total world catch of 

 Clupeidae will continue. Only the organization of fishing for Clupeidae 

 off the coast of South America and Australia, plus an increase in the 

 catch of the Japanese sardine, can stop this process. Since 1972, the 

 Gadidae have occupied first place in world fishing, primarily due to the 

 increase in the catch of pollock, tresochka esmarka, saithe and several 

 species of hake (Table 11). 



The catches of Atlantic and Pacific cod, composing one-third of the 

 total catch of Gadidae, have been greatly reduced as a result of the 

 depression in the stock of fish in the Atlantic. The catches of far 

 eastern cod have increased somewhat, but are far from the potential 



370 



