8 
merchant navy was one-twentieth the size of ours in 1945 and was 
composed mostly of lend-lease vessels provided by us. Now the Soviet 
tonnage equals ours and as the U.S. merchant fleet continues to 
age and atrophy, the Soviet fleet is expanding with new vessels being 
commissioned rapidly. 
While the Soviet Union carries 60 percent of its overseas trade 
on U.S.S.R. bottoms, the United States carries only 5 percent of 
its overseas trade on American bottoms. This results in favorable 
balance of trade conditions for the Soviet Union and large balance 
of trade deficits for the United States. Carrying such a low percentage 
of trade in U.S. flag vessels could subject the United States to foreign 
boycotts and freight discrimination. 
SOVIET DISTANT WATER FISHING 
Soviet Union is highly dependent upon distant water fisheries off 
the coast of other nations to supply its animal protein—much of 
the harvest is in U.S. coastal waters which will come within the 
200-mile fisheries jurisdiction. Therefore, we will have the capacity 
to apply leverage to the U.S.S.R. for other concessions in return 
for the privilege to fish. 
Soviet Union fish harvest increased almost fivefold between 1950 
and 1974. During that period the U.S.S.R. has shifted from being 
an importer of fish to a net exporter. The United States continues 
to import more and more fish each year—much of it caught off 
our own shores and sold back to us. 
Most of the Soviet fishing fleet was destroyed in World War II; 
however, since that time a modern and efficient distant water fishing 
fleet has been built which is capable of fishing virtually anywhere 
in the world. U.S.S.R. presently has 4,400 modern high seas vessels 
while the United States has 1,019 aging and obsolete fishing vessels. 
Only our Pacific tuna fleet compares favorably. 
Soviet Union is developing its capabilities to harvest Arctic krill 
as a supplement to its protein supply. The United States has made 
minimal efforts toward developing a potential for exploiting this 
fishery. Although krill may never be needed as a domestic source 
of protein, its importance to protein-short developing nations indicates 
a need for developing appropriate harvesting technology. 
MARINE SCIENCE 
Soviet Union has emphasized scientific and engineering manpower 
training for oceanography since implementation of its accelerated 
ocean program in the 1950’s 
Presently the U.S.S.R. and the United States are on par in scientific 
oceanographic manpower and the Soviet Union probably exceeds the 
United States in ocean engineering manpower and support staff. At 
the present rates of training the Soviet Union may overtake the United 
States in scientific manpower in the future. 
Soviet Union has 200 research vessels with a total displacement 
of 320,000 tons, while the United States has 120 oceanographic vessels 
with a total displacement of 180,000 tons. 
