storage plants in exchange for granting ROK 

 vessels access to fisheries in Russian waters. 



The ROK North Pacific trawler fleet 

 received Alaska pollock allocations within the 

 Russian EEZ in 1992 and 1993, but has so far 

 managed only a negligible pollock catch in 

 Russian waters. ROK vessels were given 

 Alaska pollock allocations in the waters of the 

 disputed Northern Territories in 1992 which 

 prompted the Japanese Government to urge 

 the ROK to respect the Japanese claim to the 

 territories, and thus the ROK actually caught 

 very little Alaska pollock in Russian waters in 

 1992. In 1993, the ROK was given an 

 allocation in the Russian EEZ of 150,000 t, 

 but the inability of the two sides to reach 

 quick agreement on fees has resulted in 

 limited ROK fishing within Russian waters. 



ROK fishing companies first formed joint 

 ventures with former Soviet organizations in 

 1989 allowing them over-the-side purchases in 

 Russian waters of Russian-caught fish. By 

 1991, as many as 12 ROK companies with 23 

 vessels were participating in these joint 

 ventures. The Korean captains purchased an 

 estimated 90,000 t of Alaska pollock, up one- 

 half from the 61,000 t purchased in 1990. A 

 total of 25 ROK vessel owners were expected 

 to purchase 1 10,000 t of Russian fish through 

 these arrangements in 1992." Final annual 

 results, however, are not available. 



The giant ROK multinational corporation 

 Samsung has signed a 3-year contract (August 

 1991 -July 1994) to purchase Russia-origin 

 Alaska pollock from the SOVRYBFLOT 

 company. Samsung plans to process the 

 Alaska pollock in China and Thailand where 

 labor is inexpensive and sell the product in 

 the United States. Samsung will pay 

 SOVRYBFLOT $6 million per year for 8,000 

 t of Alaska pollock, or about $760/ton.** 



Cooperation between the ROK and Russia 

 is also taking place in fisheries science and 

 technology. At a conference held in April 

 1992, Russia agreed to provide krill 

 processing expertise in exchange for ROK 

 salmon hatchery technology. 



Russian and ROK officials reached 

 agreement on several additional fishery 

 cooperation projects during meetings held in 

 Seoul in March 1993. Joint projects include 

 surveys of the Alaska pollock resource in the 

 "peanut hole"; an assessment of cuttlefish 

 resources in the waters of the two countries, 

 research and tests of trawling gear, and the 

 exchange of marine fishery science 

 information and scientists."' 



The ROK fishing industry badly needs 

 access to Russian waters, especially as an 

 alternative for ROK vessels that lost access to 

 U.S. and "donut hole" waters. Future 

 expansion of this relationship, however, is 

 being threatened by the reportedly 

 unreasonable price demands and contract 

 terms demanded by Russian joint venture 

 partners. Russia's determination to close the 

 "peanut hole" to foreign fishing has also 

 deterred cooperation. 



In early 1993, a new Russian-ROK joint 

 venture, "PreHan Enterprises Company," was 

 established between the Preobrazhenie*' 

 Trawling Fleet and an unknown Korean 

 company. The J/V is already engaging in 

 fishing operations in the Russian EEZ using 

 the quota allocations of the Russian partner. 

 The Korean company provided the necessary 

 supplies and provisions for the J/V fishermen, 

 the fuel tanker ing and transshipment of 

 production, and the selling of landed fish and 

 fishery products on foreign markets.*^' 



116 



