products. The small Baltic fleet landed only 

 18,000 tons. About 9,000 tons were 

 harvested from freshwater 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 percentage of fisheries 

 contribution to the gross national product is 

 not available, nor is there any reliable 

 information on the amount and the type of 

 fishery commodities exported. 



n. FISHING FLEET 



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 three Baltic 

 fleets.' 



A study done by the Nordic Investment 

 Bank (NIB) in 1991, after the country 

 declared its independence, found that the 

 fishing fleet was in poor condition when 

 compared to the average standards of Western 

 fishing nations. The NIB estimated that 

 nearly one half of the fishing vessels, 

 deployed in the Baltic Sea and on the high- 

 seas, was obsolete. The processing fleet was 

 in even worse condition; only about a third of 

 the vessels was considered worthwhile to 

 upgrade and modernize. The NIB estimated 

 that some upgrading could be done with 

 relatively modest investments. However, the 

 difficult economic situation currently facing 



the Lithuanian Government will likely mean 

 that funding for the fleet is unavailable. 



Of the 153 high-seas vessels, the state- 

 owned company JURA\ located in the port 

 city of Klaipeda, took over the operation of 

 124 high-seas vessels after Lithuania became 

 independent in late 1991.'* Another state- 

 owned company, the Klaipeda State 

 Transportation Fleet, operates 24 fishery 

 support vessels.^ The 5 remaining vessels 

 were probably inactive at the time the two 

 companies took over the Lithuanian fishery 

 fleet. 



A separate fleet composed of 51 small 

 trawlers, belonging mainly to 3 Lithuanian 

 Baltic fishing companies (Neringa and 

 Pajuris, former sovkhozes, and Baltija, a 

 former kolkhoz), fishes on the Baltic Sea. 

 Baltija is the largest of the 3 now privatized 

 fishing companies; it owns 40 trawlers and 4 

 support vessels, and receives the lion's share 

 of Lithuania's Baltic Sea catch quota.* 



A. High-seas Fleet 



As of late July 1993, Lithuania's high-seas 

 fishing fleet was composed of 1 16 units (table 

 1) including 92 large and medium trawlers, as 

 well as 24 refrigerated transports and other 

 support vessels, including 3 tankers.'' Most 

 of the vessels were built in former Soviet and 

 East German shipyards in the 1970s. The 

 entire Lithuanian fishing fleet has a total gross 

 registered tonnage (GRT) of over 448,000 

 tons. 



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