FISHERIES OF SIBERIA 



41 



Whale, cachalots (spermaceti whale), walruses, and seals, which are 

 found mostly in the waters of the Russian northeast, are also of 

 some commercial value. The average value of their annual catch 

 is estimated at $560,000. 



PRODUCTION 



Statistics regarding the catch of fish in Siberian waters are very 

 incomplete and do not include either the fish caught by the popula- 

 tion for its own consumption or for the feeding of dogs. It is esti- 

 mated that 15,000,000 pieces of salmon are prepared as food for dogs 

 annually in the Kamchatka Peninsula alone. Large fishery enter- 

 prises have been concentrated on the Pacific coast, principally in the 

 Kamchatka Peninsula and Nikolayevsk-on-Amur districts, but it is 

 only for fisheries of the Russian tar east that there are statistical 

 data for consecutive years. These statistics are based on returns 

 supplied by the fishermen, and therefore they may safely be assumed 

 to be below the actual catch, as the amount of rent for a fishing 

 station was based on the quantity of fish caught at a given station. 



Fishing in Siberian waters on a conmiercial basis began some 30 

 years before the World War. In 1911 2 there were 26,200 fishermen 

 including 10,000 Japanese workmen, engaged in the fisheries. The 

 total catch of fish reached 224,000,000 pounds, valued at about 

 $4,000,000. In the Russian far eastern waters alone 18,000 persons 

 were employed, and there were caught about 168,000,000 pounds of 

 fish, valued at $2,100,000. Just before the World War the catch of 

 fish in Siberian waters amounted to 297,920,000 pounds, valued at 

 $10,900,000. In 1913 in Russian far eastern waters 77,000,000 salmon 

 and 41,000,000 herring were caught, from which 291,200,000 pounds 

 ol fish and fishery products were prepared. Other species furnished 

 some 8,960,000 pounds more. Of this fish, 206,080,000 pounds, 

 valued at $3,460,000, were exported to Japan. This shipment was 

 made up almost entirely of salmon supplied largely by Kamchatka 

 fishing stations. 



In 1914 the total catch on the Russian Pacific coast was 304,640,000 

 pounds, valued at $5,000,000. 



According to Japanese statistics, the Japanese caught 232,960,000 

 pounds of fish in 1913 in Russian far eastern waters, 136,640,000 

 pounds in 1915, 159,040,000 pounds in 1916, 147,840,000 pounds in 

 1917, 136,640,000 pounds in 1918, and 168,000,000 pounds in 1920, 

 valued at about $23,000,000 and furnishing employment to 20,000 

 Japanese fishermen. 



The centers of the Siberian fishing industry and the average annual 

 catch and value of all fish in years just preceding the World War 

 were as follows: 



° Another source estimates the average catch at 11,200,000 pounds. 



2 Statistical Annual of Russian Statistical Committee, Vol. II, 1913, p. 100. St. Petersburg, 

 sian.) 



(In Rus- 



