STATISTICAL NOTE 



A major source of statistical data for several countries in this study was the Statistical Tables of 

 Lloyd's Register of Shipping which provided uninterrupted fleet statistics from 1975 through June 1992. 

 Lloyd's most recent publication. World Fleet Statistics, is especially useful since it gives the statistical data 

 as of December 31,1 992 (the Statistical Tables only listed the status of the fleets as of June 30 of each year) 

 and also calculates the average age of each country's fleet. The Lloyd's Register of Shipping includes 

 worldwide data for vessels having over 500 gross registered tons (i.e. high-seas fishing vessels) that can be 

 used for analyzing trends and making comparisons among countries. 



The most difficult problem that the authors encountered was the recent non-existence of most of the 

 covered countries. The 3 Bakic states, Ukraine, Georgia, and, last but not least, the Russian Federation, 

 became independent sovereign states in late 1991 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics dissolved into 

 its 15 component parts. This event made it difficult to follow the historical sequence of the increase or 

 decrease of the fishing fleets in those countries. (For other countries such historical data are available in the 

 Lloyd's Register of Shipping.) In obtaining information, we were fortunate to receive the outstanding 

 cooperation of the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) which provided a complete vessel inventory for 

 all the covered countries. 



Deconmiissioning of high-seas vessels from tlie registers of the covered countries (by reflagging, 

 selling, or scrapping of vessels) is occurring so rapidly that we have no illusion that the report presents a 

 complete, updated picture. Through many personal contacts and conmiunications, the authors have tried, 

 to the best of dieir ability, to verify the available data and eliminate any inconsistencies and contradictioiLs. 

 These efforts are described mostly in the notes accompanying die various statistical appendices. Any help 

 from the readers to obtain additional information on decommissioning would be most appreciated. 



EMPHASIS ON HIGH-SEAS FLEET 



The authors have defined, for the purposes of this study, liigh-seas fishing vessels as vessels having 

 over 500 gross registered tons. The authors decided to use this definition since most high-seas fishing vessels 

 in the covered countries exceed the 500 GRT mark. Existing data, such as those provided by Lloyd's, give 

 worldwide fleet statistics based on the gross tomiage, but do not describe where these vessels are deployed. 

 The authors have had to rely mainly on extensive NMFS files to determine the fishing grounds where these 

 liigh-seas fleets are deployed. 



In our study we have used the term "high-seas" to identify vessels having over 500 GRT that fish 

 beyond 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zones. In some cases, we used the term "distant-water" to identify 

 fishing grounds far from homeports. 



CITATION OF THIS PUBLICATION 



This volume should be cited as: Kravanja, Milan and Ellen Shapiro. Tlie Baltic States, The 

 Commonwealth of Independent States, and Eastern Europe (fishing fleets). Published in: "World Fishing 

 Fleets: An Analysis of Distant-water Fleet Operations. Past-Present-Future. Volume V." Prepared by the 

 Office of International Affairs, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce. 

 Silver Spring, Maryland, November 1993. 



VII 



