reconstruct the historical catch statistics of the 

 new independent countries. To accomplish 

 that, the FAO will need the full cooperation 

 of the former Soviet Fisheries Research 

 Institute (VNIRO) in Moscow. The authors 

 have been able to obtain the recent statistics 

 for the Russian catch (table 3). These data 

 show that the catch began decreasing in 1989, 

 at first slowly, but in subsequent years at an 

 increasing pace. The 1992 estimated catch of 

 5.8 million tons is 16 percent below the 

 amount landed the previous year. The 

 decrease in the catch will likely continue in 

 1993, but, hopefully, not at such a steep rate. 



Appendix 9 shows the Soviet catch in 

 various FAO statistical areas. The largest 

 amount continues to be harvested in the FAO 

 statistical area 61 which includes the fishing 

 grounds within the Russian Pacific 200-mile 

 fishery zone. The second largest catch is off 

 the western coasts of Africa where the 

 Soviets/Russians have traditionally had 

 extensive fisheries. The Barents Sea (FAO 

 statistical area 27) continues as the third 

 largest fishing ground for the Russian fleets, 

 even though its importance has decreased 

 greatly since 1975. 



V. FISHERIES ADMINISTRATION 



A. Committee on Fisheries 



The Committee on Fisheries is the direct 

 successor of the former Soviet Ministry of 

 Fisheries, but it no longer controls the fishing 

 industries of the 15 republics which were 

 constituent parts of the former USSR. The 

 Committee now maintains control only over 

 the fisheries of the former Russian Soviet 

 Socialist Republic. In the Soviet Union, the 

 fishing industry was organized into five so- 

 called main regional directorates. They were 

 located in Murmansk for the north, in Riga 

 for the west, in Sevastopol for the south, in 

 Astrakhan for the Caspian Sea, and in 

 Vladivostok for the Far Eastern Region. 

 Almost 800,000 people were employed in this 

 widespread fisheries empire. 



After the dissolution of the USSR in 

 December 1991, only the Far Eastern and the 

 Northern fishery administrations remained 

 intact and were absorbed by the newly- 

 organized Committee. In the west, the three 

 Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) 

 became independent and organized their own 

 fishery administrations. The headquarters of 

 the Western Fisheries Administration were 

 transferred from Riga to Kaliningrad. 

 Together with the St. Petersburg Oblast 

 (Province) fisheries, the Kaliningrad fisheries 

 are the only remaining parts of the Western 

 Administration. The Southern Regional 

 Fisheries Administration, also known under 

 the acronym YUGRYBA, is now in the 

 Republic of Ukraine. Sevastopol remains the 

 headquarters of this administration, but the 

 policy directions are no longer received from 

 Moscow, but from Kiev. The Caspian Sea 

 has been divided into four parts claimed by 



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