cost of diesel fuel represented barely 15 

 percent of the operational costs of the fleet, 

 under the free-market system, fuel now 

 represents over 50 percent of the total costs 

 (and in some cases as much as 70 percent) of 

 the Estonian high- seas fishing fleet. ^° 



Despite serious problems, the outlook for 

 the Estonian fishing industry is not entirely 

 unfavorable. The new fishing managers 

 promptly began reducing the oversized fleet 

 and, during the past two years, sold for scrap, 

 reflagged, or otherwise decommissioned 18 

 percent (41,000 tons) of the total high-seas 

 gross registered tonnage (225,000 tons). They 

 also seem to be adept at forming joint 

 ventures and finding markets for their 

 products. Helping to maintain the productivity 

 and economic efficiency of the high-seas fleet 

 is the fact that its vessels are of relatively 

 recent vintage. The average age of the fleet, 

 according to Lloyd's of London, was 14 years 

 on December 31, 1992. 



The successful transfer of Government- 

 owned assets of the fishery cooperatives 

 (kolkhozes) to private companies is an 

 additional factor boding favorably for the 

 future of the Estonian fisheries. The largest 

 company, OOKEAN, however, remains 

 government- owned. Its assets are so large 

 that private funds can not be found for its 

 purchase. The discontinuation of government 

 subsidies, however, has forced the company to 

 increasingly operate as a private enterprise 

 geared towards covering its costs and making 

 a profit. 



If the Estonian fishing companies can 

 continue exporting a large portion of their 

 catch, thereby earning hard currencies, they 

 will be able not only to secure fuel for 

 continued distant-water operations, but may 

 even find sufficient funds to modernize 



existing vessels and save for the eventual 

 replacement of the old fishery vessels. This 

 modern new fishing fleet, however, will have 

 to be much smaller and more efficient than it 

 is today. 



SOURCES 



Estonian Republic. List of the Ships of the Estonian 

 Fishing Company OOKEAN. Tallinn, 1991 and 

 1993. 



FAO. Fishery Country Profile. Estonia. Rome, 

 November 1992. 



National Technical Information Service. Estonia: An 

 Economic Profile. Washington, D.C., July 1992. 



Nordic Investment Bank. Baltic study. September 

 1991. 



U.S. Embassy, Tallinn. Personal Communications. 6 

 August, 2, 3, 14, & 30 September, 1993. 



U.S. Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence. 29 July 

 1993. 



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