Ocean perch fisliing in tlie Crulf of Alaska in 1964 

 began in February. By the end of Marcii the Siwiet 

 fishery stretclied from Lliiimak Pass to the Yakutat 

 grounds. A maximum tleet of about 160 vessels was 

 reached by late May. By mid-August the number of ships 

 had declined to about 40 vessels because many of the 

 ships had transferred to the fisheries for saury and 

 herring off the Soviet coast. In September the fleet was 

 reduced to less than 30 vessels. The fleet remained at 

 about this strength, and for the first time, a fishery was 

 maintained in the Gulf throughout the winter. The 

 Soviet Government reported that 230,000 tons of ocean 

 perch were caught in the Gulf of Alaska in 1964. 



Soviet SRTR side trawler with deck load of ocean perch in Gulf 

 of Alaska. Although this class of side trawler has freezing 

 capabilities, catches are generally delivered directly to 

 accompanying processing vessels. 



By the close of 1965 the Soviets had established a 

 year-round Pacific ocean perch fishery in the Gulf of 

 Alaska and had extended the fishing area east to the 

 coast of southeastern Alaska and into Dixon Entrance. 

 The ships shifted frequently between productive areas 

 across the entire Gulf. The vessels increased from about 

 12 in January to over 160 in May. As during the 

 previous year, effort began decreasing in June; however, 

 in 1965 the decline was halted in late July when 120 to 

 130 vessels were still fishing in the Gulf. In October and 

 early November, the fleets had less than 100 vessels 

 when some of the ships moved to off the coast of British 

 Columbia. By late November those ships had returned 

 and about 1 25 ships were again fishing in the Gulf at the 

 close of 1965. The Soviets reported that their Pacific 

 ocean perch catch in the Gulf was 340,000 tons in 1965. 



From January through March of 1966, the Soviet 

 Gulf of Alaska ocean perch fishery had a fleet of 100 to 

 125 trawlers and support ships, most of them off 

 southeastern Alaska, on the Yakutat grounds, and on 

 Portlock Bank. In April the ocean perch fleet declined to 

 about 70 vessels because most of the ships in the eastern 

 Gulf moved to the newly located perch and hake 

 fisheries off the Pacific Northwest. In May the Gulf fleet 

 rose to over 100 vessels as a result of the transfers from 

 the recently terminated eastern Bering Sea flounder 

 fishery. In June, however, the Gulf ocean perch fishery 



Soviet fishing and support vessels nested together in Gulf of 

 Alaska. Several classes of processing and refrigerated transport 

 vessels accompany fleets of trawlers fishing off Alaska. 



was almost completely abandoned when most of the 

 vessels moved to the coasts of British Columbia, 

 Washington, and Oregon. In December the Pacific 

 Northwest fisheries ended, and by the end of 1966 

 about 40 trawlers and several support ships were in the 

 Gulf of Alaska. 



Aleutian Islands 



The first Soviet Pacific ocean perch fishery, which 

 was preceded by exploratory work, began along the 

 Aleutian Islands in 1963. Up to 12 BMRT factory 

 trawlers fished along the entire chain from August 

 through December. This fishery continued through 

 1964, and BMRT's were still the mainstay. The number 

 of vessels varied between 5 and 20, and the Soviets 

 reported that nearly 61,000 tons of ocean perch were 

 caught in the Aleutian Islands in 1964. 



Fishing was continuous through 1965, and much of 

 the effort was along the Near Islands in the western 

 Aleutian Islands. In addition to 20 to 30 BMRT's and 

 support ships, almost 10 SRT side trawlers joined tliis 

 fishery about midyear and fished along the central 

 Aleutian Islands for about 3 months. The ocean perch 

 catch along the Aleutian Islands in 1965 increased to 

 nearly 71,000 tons. Although this was 10,000 tons over 

 the 1964 catch, the catch per trawler declined sharply in 

 1965 and the trawlers spent nearly twice as much time 

 searching for ocean perch. 



Early in 1966 Soviet vessels left the Aleutian Islands, 

 probably because of adverse weather, and most of the 

 trawlers transferred to the Gulf of Alaska. The Aleutian 

 Islands ocean perch fishery was resumed by a lew 

 BMRT's in May, and by August the fleet had about 20 

 ships, mostly BMRT's with a few SRTM freezer trawlers. 

 In October, however, the effort again fell when only a 

 few BMRT's fished along the eastern Aleutians. By 

 December the Aleutian Islands area had been vacated, 

 which tended to corroborate continuing reports of 

 declining catches. 



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