4.2 



BULGARIA 



Bulgaria is adjacent to the Black Sea and its fisheries have been traditionally based on that 

 body of water. In the 1960s, however, it began to buy high-seas fishing and fishery support 

 vessels from the Soviet Union, Poland and Germany, and to build the infrastrucmre for the 

 processing of landed fish. Along with the increase in the fishery vessel tonnage, its marine catch 

 grew rapidly until the late 1970s when coastal countries began to extend fishery jurisdictions to 

 200-miles. Bulgarian fishery administrators were unable to adapt themselves to the new 

 conditions. As a result, its catch began to stagnate and finally decrease rapidly; soon the aging 

 fleet became more of a burden than an asset. The outlook for the Bulgarian fleet is bleak and 

 the lack of rapid privatization helps to perpemate the inbred inefficiency of large government- 

 owned corporations. The Bulgarian high-seas company was forced into bankruptcy, and for it 

 to continue operations it will have to be bailed out by government funds. 



CONTENTS 



I. Background 185 



II. Fishing Fleet 186 



A. High-seas Fleet 187 



B. Fleet Reduction 188 



III. High-seas Fishing Grounds and Catch 190 



IV. Inland and Black Sea Fisheries 192 



V. Fishing Companies 193 



VI. Bilateral Fishery Agreements and Joint Ventures . 194 



VII. Employment 195 



VIII. Trade and Consumption of Fishery Products ... 196 



IX. Shipyards 196 



X. Outlook 196 



Sources 197 



Endnotes 198 



Appendices 200 



no ocean coast; its Black Sea coastline runs 



I. BACKGROUND for 378 kilometers. To reach the Atlantic, the 



Bulgarian vessels must transit the Straits of 



Bosphorus and Gibraltar. 



The Republic of Bulgaria, a country with 



a population of 9 million, is sandwiched The gross value of the 1990 fisheries 



between Romania in the North, Turkey and production was estimated at US$ 20 million'; 



Greece in the South, and Serbia and a large portion (US$ 17.2 million) of this total 



Macedonia in the West. Bulgaria also borders was exported. Fishery imports, mostly 



on the Black Sea in the east. The country has fishmeal, amounted to US$ 2.5 million in 



