called "peanut hole"). The Polish catch in the 

 "peanut hole" was 175,700 in 1991, and 

 297,700 in 1992. In early 1993, over 40 

 Polish large stern factory trawlers were 

 operating in the "peanut hole" harvesting 

 Alaska pollock,^' about the same number as in 

 December 1992. 



Antarctic: Antarctic waters are fished to a 

 small extent, primarily for krill. The size of 

 these catches reflects a limited market.^- 

 During the 1990/1991 Antarctic season, 8 

 Polish vessels conducted fishing operations, 

 mostly for krill, and harvested 9,591 t of fish 

 in the Atlantic Sector of the CCAMLR 

 Convention Area.^^ During the 1991/92 

 season, however, the Polish fishermen 

 doubled their landings to 17,300 tons 

 (appendix 13). 



V. FISHING COMPANIES 



Three large fishing and processing 

 enterprises (with a total of about 12,500 

 employees) dominate the fishing industry in 

 Poland: ODRA (located in Swinoujscie), 

 GRYF (in Szczecin), and DALMOR (in 

 Gdynia). During the communist era, these 

 enterprises were heavily subsidized. The 

 basic aim was to increase the catch, 

 regardless of cost. To fulfill the production 

 plans, generous subsidies were extended to 

 these companies year after year by the 

 Government from the state budget. When 

 government subsidies were withdrawn in 

 1990, it became clear that their operations 

 were unprofitable, and major restructuring 

 was undertaken to make them economically 

 attractive enough to be sold. It was evident 

 that the Polish high-seas fleet was 

 overcapitalized for the reduced harvesting 

 opportunities of the 1990s. All three 

 companies began to sell older fishing vessels 



and diversify into new economic activities, 

 some not connected to fisheries. They 

 continue to be state-owned companies, but 

 after 1990, they became self- managing and 

 allowed to make their own policy decisions. ^^ 



These three fishing companies currently 

 own 53 stern factory trawlers with an average 

 of about 2,500 GRT (the total fleet has 

 292,000 GRT^^); this number represented a 

 significant reduction from the 77 vessels that 

 these companies owned at the end of 1990.''' 

 The 1992 catch of the high-seas fleet 

 amounted to 360,000 t or 6,792 t per trawler. 



DALMOR, not only the largest, but the 

 best managed of the 3 high-seas fishing 

 companies, was the quickest to adapt to the 

 new exigencies. In 1992, its fishermen 

 increased their catch by 35 percent" which 

 made it possible for the company to turn a 

 profit. DALMOR also concluded several 

 joint ventures: one, with an Italian company,^** 

 procured an infusion of foreign capital and 

 was used for the modernization of the 

 company's processing plant; the other, with 

 the Gdansk Repair Shipyard, will repair 

 fishing vessels, both for domestic and foreign 

 owners. '"^ DALMOR owned 17 trawlers in 

 1992 and employed 3,581 persons; its 

 fishermen caught 169,300 t of fish, or 47 

 percent of the total 1992 Polish high-seas 

 fisheries catch of 358,500 tons. The value of 

 the catch was estimated at US$ 85 million, 80 

 percent of which was exported for hard 

 currency."" 



The ODRA company owned 20 factory 

 trawlers and 4 squid jigging vessels with 

 processing facilities on board at the beginning 

 of 1991 when it was contributing about 20 

 percent to Poland's total high-seas fishery 

 landings.**' ODRA sold its fish-processing 

 plant to a private corporation named ODRA- 



221 



