companies, independently conducting their 

 economic activities. They own about 18 

 high-seas fishing vessels which operate in the 

 Atlantic Ocean; the cooperatives also own the 

 entire Latvian fleet fishing in the Baltic Sea. 

 in addition, the cooperatives own fish- 

 processing plants, harbors, a fishery support 

 fleet, warehouses, and freezing plants. Some 

 also engage in ship repair, the building of 

 recreational boats, net making, fish farming, 

 growing fur animals, and floriculture. 



In 1992, they were transformed into 

 share-holding and joint-stock companies, and 

 each member obtained a part of the common 

 property. In the future, the members' income 

 will depend on the number of shares in the 

 stock-holding company. The share-holding 

 company LOMS, which manufactures nets 

 and ropes, is another company belonging to 

 the private sector; employees own all of its 

 shares. The number of private companies and 

 fishermen who catch small quantities of fish 

 in the Baltic with their own vessels is 

 growing. Several joint ventures with French, 

 Danish, Belgian and U.S. companies have 

 also been registered in Latvia. 



The state-owned fleet in Latvia is 

 managed by two large organizations whose 

 vessels fish primarily in the Atlantic Ocean. 

 Their fleet is composed of an estimated 66 

 high-seas fishing vessels 55 to 120 meters 

 long with engines having 1,300 to 7,000 

 horsepower (appendices 3 and 4). They can 

 carry out their operations in any part of the 

 world's oceans and catch any species of fish. 

 This fleet processes and delivers frozen, 

 filleted and canned fish, as well as fish meal 

 and fish oil. Fishery products are shipped 

 from the fishing grounds by cargo carriers 

 and refrigerated transports of the Latvian 

 transport fleet. 



IX. BILATERALS & JOINT VENTURES 



Following the unsuccessful coup d'etat 

 in Moscow in August 1991, Latvia gained its 

 independence and thus entered the world's 

 fishery management systems. The Parliament 

 decided that Latvia should join the relevant 

 international fishery conventions after the 

 country's independence was recognized by the 

 Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. The 

 Republic has become a contracting party to 

 the Baltic Sea Fisheries Commission, 

 International Commission for the Exploration 

 of the Seas (ICES), North Atlantic Fisheries 

 Organization (NAFO) and other international 

 fishery bodies. Latvia also signed bilateral 

 fishery agreements with Russia, Denmark and 

 the Faroe Islands, Sweden, Finland, Canada, 

 the European Community, and the United 

 States of America. The possibility of signing 

 similar agreements with additional countries is 

 being discussed. 



Faroe Islands: The bilateral fisheries 

 agreement with the Faroe Islands (with the 

 consent of Denmark) provides Latvian 

 fishermen with a 1993 catch quota of 12,000 

 t of blue whiting in the Faroese EEZ. In 

 exchange, the Faroese fishermen will receive 

 a 1993 catch quota of 4,600 t of various 

 species in the Latvian EEZ in the Baltic.'" 



Sweden: At the end of January 1992, a 

 quadripartite agreement was signed between 

 Sweden and the fishery administrators of 

 Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in Stockholm. 

 The document defines the contested fishing 

 grounds in the coastal areas of the Baltic Sea. 

 An estimated 75 percent of fishery stocks in 

 the area will be managed by the Baltic 

 states." 



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