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 



