IV. HIGH-SEAS GROUNDS AND CATCH 



High-seas fishing by Romanian vessels 

 began off West Africa in 1964 (as soon as 

 Romania purchased 2 stern factory trawlers 

 from Japan), on Georges Bank off New 

 England in 1965, and in the rest of the 

 Northwest Atlantic and off Labrador in 

 1969. The total catch increased from 8,000 

 tons in 1964 to over 76,000 t in 1973.'^ 

 Following the implementation of 200-mile 

 exclusive fishery zones in the late 1970s, 

 however, the small fishery off the North 

 American coast (FAO statistical area 21) was 

 reduced to negligible amounts by 1980, and 

 completely eliminated following the 

 Americanization and Canadianization of those 

 fisheries. 



In the Northeast Atlantic (FAO 



statistical area 27), the Romanians began a 

 small fishery which yielded 3,700 t of fish in 

 1975. In 1977, however, when the EC 

 countries extended their fisheries jurisdiction 

 to 200 nautical miles, the Romanians, like the 

 other Eastern European communist-bloc 

 countries — including the Soviet Union — 

 were expelled from EC waters and 

 subsequently received no access permits. 



During the past 15 years, the Romanian 

 fishermen operated only off West Africa in 

 FAO statistical areas 34 and 47 (appendix 7). 



The fisheries in the waters of the FAO 

 statistical area 34 are regulated by the 

 Central Eastern Atlantic Fisheries 

 Commission (CECAF). The Romanians 

 fished mostly in the 200-mile zone of 

 Mauritania with which they concluded a 

 fisheries agreement in October 1973.'^ By 

 June 1974, they agreed to establish a joint 



fishery venture in exchange for access to 

 fishery resources in Mauritanian waters. 

 Later that year, 9 large Romanian stern 

 factory trawlers were deployed off 

 Mauritania. These fishing grounds were the 

 most important high-seas Romanian fishery 

 for the past two decades. The annual catch 

 was about 80,000 tons, but in 1987 and 1988, 

 over 100,000 t of fish were harvested with a 

 peak at 125,000 t in 1988 (appendix 7, figure 

 2). In recent years, the Romanian catch off 

 Mauritania decreased considerably and 

 amounted to only 57,000 t in 1992. its 

 significance to Romania, however, increased 

 greatly. Following the discontinuation of 

 foreign fishing off Namibia in 1990, the 

 fishery off Mauritania remains the only 

 Romanian high-seas harvesting area. 



Frozen and whole, the catch from West 

 African fishing grounds is transported by 

 refrigerated cargo vessels back to Romania. 

 These transports work on the fishing grounds 

 for four years before they return home, 

 although their crews may be exchanged by 

 plane or ship every 6 months. The average 

 catch per trawler was reportedly from 2,000 

 to 5,000 tons per year. Certain trawlers catch 

 as much as 9,000 tons per year. The landings 

 (horse mackerel, sardines, mackerel, and cod) 

 were mostly sold on domestic markets. 

 Following its independence on 21 March 

 1990, Namibia banned foreign fishing in its 

 waters which left the Romanians with only 

 one fishing ground: the one off Mauritania. 

 How successful will this fishery be in the 

 future? According to a French source, 

 Romanian biologists noted a decrease of 

 blackjack mackerel (trachurus), round 

 sardinella (aurita), and mackerel on the high- 

 seas off Mauritania in 1990.'^ Could the 

 sharp catch decrease in 1992 be a sign of 

 impending trouble? 



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