economy, contributing almost 900 million 

 rubles to the Estonian gross domestic 

 product in 1991. The value of fishery 

 exports in 1991 amounted to 775 million 

 rubles, or over 85 percent of the total value 

 of fisheries output. 



The Estonian fishing fleet has 150 

 vessels with a total gross tonnage of 236,000 

 tons. The high-seas fleet accounts for 96 

 percent of the entire tonnage, even though it 

 has only 75 vessels of various classes. 

 Many vessels are aging and will have to be 

 decommissioned. The capacity of the 

 Estonian high-seas fleet exceeds the current 

 availability of fishery resources. The high- 

 cost of diesel fuel further restricts the 

 operations of the distant-water fleet. 

 Estonian fishery managers, however, 

 promptly reduced 18 percent of the fleet's 

 tonnage in the last two years. They are 

 actively searching for partners in joint 

 fishery ventures which would allow them 

 access to fishery resources. Bilateral fishery 

 agreements have been concluded with a half 

 dozen countries. Several government-owned 

 companies have been privatized and the 

 prospects for Estonian fisheries appear 

 favorable. 



Latvia 



A leading traditional sector in the 

 Latvian economy, the fishing industry used 

 to employ 48,000 persons, according to the 

 Latvian Ministry of Maritime Affairs. The 

 Latvian fishing industry is based mainly in 

 two fishing ports — Riga and Liepaja. The 

 fishing industry contributed almost 500 

 million rubles to the Latvian economy in 

 1990. As the Soviet Union was breaking up 

 in 1991, the Latvian fishing fleet consisted 

 of 351 fishing and fishery support vessels, 

 but has since been reduced to 223 units. 



Among the three Baltic Soviet republics, 

 Latvia's fleet was by far the largest, 

 comprising almost 50 percent of the 762 

 vessels based in the ports of the Baltic 

 republics. The high-seas fleet, owned by 

 the Government, is fishing primarily in the 

 Atlantic, both northern and southern. The 

 principal fishing grounds are off Canada, 

 Mauritania, Nigeria, the Faroe Islands, and 

 Russia. The Government, however, is 

 exploring the possibility of concluding 

 additional bilateral fishery agreements. 



Lithuania 



Lithuania is the largest of the three 

 Baltic countries. In 1990, Lithuanian 

 fishermen harvested 355,000 metric tons of 

 fish. The high-seas fishing fleet of 153 

 vessels landed 326,000 metric tons of 

 fishery products. The small Baltic fleet 

 landed only 18,000 tons. About 9,000 tons 

 were harvested from fresh-water ponds. By 

 the end of 1992, however, the total catch 

 was halved to 170,000 tons. The fisheries 

 sector employed about 24,000 persons in 

 1991; of this total, 9,000 were employed in 

 the fishing fleets, while 15,000 were 

 working in the fish-processing industry. 



The Lithuanian fishing fleet consisted of 

 201 fishing and fishery support vessels as 

 the Soviet Union was breaking up in 1991. 

 Of this total, 153 vessels fished on the high- 

 seas and 48 in the Baltic. Lithuania had the 

 smallest fleet out of the three former Soviet 

 Baltic republics, comprising only about 26 

 percent of the 762 vessels in the Baltic 

 fleets. Most of the fishing fleet is in poor 

 condition when compared to the average 

 standards of Western fishing nations. 

 Nearly one half of the fishing vessels 

 deployed in the Baltic Sea and on the high- 

 seas is obsolete. The processing fleet is in 



