Figure 1 V.^Soviet shrimp fishing areas. 



sistersliips near the Shumagin Islands. By mid-February 

 the fleet increased to 14 SRTM's. In mid-April the 

 number of trawlers began decreasing, and by mid-June 

 the fishery was discontinued. After a summer lapse, as in 



1965, shrimp fishing near the Shumagin Islands was 

 resumed in early September by 5 SRTM's; by the end of 



1966, 18 trawlers were active. The Soviets caught an 

 estimated 1 2,000 tons of shrimp in the Gulf in 1966. 



Until late 1 966 the shrimp catches were frozen in the 

 round aboard the SRTM trawlers and subsequently 

 delivered by refrigerated transport ships to Soviet ports. 

 Upon arrival in the Soviet Union, the shrimp underwent 

 final processing which was mostly by canning. In 

 December 1966 the SRTM's were joined by a recently 

 constructed ZaA:/;aroi'-class cannery factory ship which 

 enabled them to completely process shrimp on the 

 grounds. 



WHALING 



Whaling in the Soviet Union began to develop 

 successfully after the 1917 Revolution. It was begun 

 shortly after the end of the 18th Century from shore 

 stations, and in 1933 the first whale factory ship began 

 operating (Syosev, 1964). This ship was an ex-United 

 States cargo vessel which was purchased and converted 

 to a whale factory ship by adding a stern ramp and 

 processing equipment. Soviet whaling in the North 

 Pacific then progressed eastward, reaching the western 

 Aleutians by 1959 and into the Gulf of Alaska by 1962 

 (fig. 18). 



Soviet whaling off Alaska from 1959 through 1962 

 was by one fleet. In 1959-61 the converted factory ship, 

 accompanied by 9 to 15 whale killer vessels engaged in 

 whaling along the Aleutian Islands and worked farther 

 east each year. In 1962 the same factory ship with 19 

 killer vessels began whaling along the western Aleutians 

 in April and, working eastward, entered the Gulf of 

 Alaska by late July or early August. 



Soviet whale factory ship processing whales off Alaska. Modern 

 Soviet whaling fleets hunt whales throughout the Gulf of Alaska 

 and Bering Sea. The meat and blubber are stripped from the 

 whale on deck of the factory ship and then processed in the 

 factory below deck. 



29 



