In the northern portion of the ocean, to the north of 40°N and in 

 the adjacent seas, 19.2 '10" t of seafood is caught (1975 figures) i.e., 

 two thirds of all the catch of the Pacific Ocean. Soviet fishermen 

 catch the predominant portion of their total Pacific Ocean basin catch 

 here (98% in 1974), their catch representing about 3 million tons, or 

 15% of the total catch in the region. This catch is represented 

 primarily by Pacific herring, sardines, anchovies, sea perch, cod, 

 saffron cod, pollock, saury, Pacific salmon, many species of plaice and 

 halibut, mackerel, horse mackerel, macruri, etc. 



Research and prospecting work has allowed commercial exploitation 

 of previously untouched resources in the Sea of Japan, the Sea of 

 Okhotsk and the eastern portion of the Bering Sea, near the Aleutian 

 Islands, in the Gulf of Alaska, along the Pacific coast of Canada and 

 the USA, in the region of the northwest ridge, along the coast of Japan 

 and in the open regions of the ocean. This has allowed a significant 

 lengthening of the list of commercial fish, which now includes many 

 dozens of species. 



The Sea of Japan. The commercial ichthyofauna of the northwest 

 portion of this sea consists of cold-water forms: saffron cod, pollock, 

 cod, herring, plaice, mackerel, etc. Warm-water species predominate in 

 the south: mackerel, saury, anchovies, etc. Up to 1940-1941, Pacific 

 sardines entered the Sea of Japan in large numbers and their catch by 

 Soviet, Korean and Japanese fishermen reached 2 million tons. In recent 

 years, as a result of a change in oceanographic conditions in southern 

 Japan, where the fish spawn, the number of Pacific sardines has greatly 

 decreased. In the past few years, an increase has been observed once 

 again in the stock of Pacific sardines, and in 1975 its catch off the 

 coast of Japan reached 800,000 tons. Before 1943, the catch of another 

 massive fish in the Sea of Japan— the herring of the Sakhalin-Hokkaido 

 stock--was as great at 500,000 tons; now it has decreased to a few tens 

 of thousands of tons, which has, to some extent, been the result of 

 natural factors, but to a considerably greater extent, a result of the 

 excessive overfishing of the spawning herring. 



The total catch of all seafood in the Sea of Japan exceeds 1 

 million tons, mostly pelagic species such as mackerel, horse mackerel, 

 anchovy, etc. (over 0.6*10^ t) , to a significantly lesser extent (about 

 0.4'10^ t)--benthic species. The fish productivity of the sea is rather 

 high: 830 kg/km^ of benthic fish and about 70 kg/km^ of pelagic fish. 

 Further intensification of fishing can be achieved by some increase in 

 the volume of the catch of Pacific sardines, horse mackerel, sauries and 

 other fish in the southeastern portion of the sea. 



Considering the warmth of the sea, there are great possibilities 

 for the development of commercial growth of aquatic plants (sea cabbage, 

 red laver, etc.), as well as the breeding and raising of invertebrates 

 (scallops, mussels, oysters, trepangs) and fish. 



The Sea of Okhotsk, with the exception of the most southern 

 portion, is a cold-water sea, its ichthyofauna consisting of forms which 

 live at relatively low temperatures. The most plentiful commercial 



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