386 
In 1975, about 61,000 students were studying in 31 Soviet secondary 
and higher fishery schools and institutes. About one-half take cor- 
respondence courses while working fulltime in the fishing industry. 
Every year, approximately 10,000 students graduate from the system. 
There is no figure available on the total number of professors in 
Soviet secondary and higher fisheries schools; however, based on 
available data, the student-faculty ratio is estimated at 20-25:1. This 
would mean that about 2,500-3,000 fulltime faculty members teach 
in Soviet fishery schools. 
It is interesting to note that about 50 percent of the professors 
in the schools of the Western Fisheries Administration (data for other 
administrations is not available) belong to the Communist Party of 
the U.S.S.R. This is an unusually high percentage, but is not surprising 
considering the large amounts. of money the Soviet government has 
spent developing the high seas fishing fleet, which operates off foreign 
shores and often visits foreign ports. The Fisheries Ministry doubtless 
wants to instill strong Party leanings in its future high level officers 
in order to protect its investment. 
In 1973, the Soviet Fisheries Ministry budgeted a reported 48 mil- 
lion rubles for its fishery schools, or a little less than 5 percent 
_of its entire budgetary allocations. The average cost per fisheries stu- 
dent would thus amount to about 800 rubles (U.S. $1,050) per year. 
CONSUMPTION 
Fishery products are an important source of animal protein in the 
Soviet Union, a country where a comparatively small percentage of 
the agricultural resources can be expended on beef production. The 
arable land, which is severely limited by climatic and geographical 
considerations, is cultivated mainly for food crops such as grain. Pastu- 
rage for beef cattle is therefore scarce, and fodder production low. 
Fish and fish products are a viable solution to what could become 
a serious protein deficiency in the Soviet diet. 
This situation is illustrated by the fact that Soviet consumers eat 
more fish than consumers in most European countries. The Soviet 
annual consumption of fish per capita was 16.9 kg in 1975 
(preliminary data). The Soviet Government would like to increase 
it to 18.2 kg per capita, a figure recommended by the Academy 
of Sciences of the U.S.S.R. as the optimal annual requirement of 
fishery products for the average Soviet citizen. Fisheries Ministry per- 
sonnel have suggested that Soviet fish consumption could increase 
to as much as 20-22 kg per year, but this was before the extensions 
of fishery jurisdictions throughout the world cast a pall over Soviet 
plans for expanding fishery catches. 
The Soviet population has been eating comparatively large amounts 
of fishery products during the last 25 years. In 1950, the Soviets 
consumed only 7.0 kg of fish per capita, but Soviet consumption 
of fishery products has increased steadily since that year. The growth 
in fisheries consumption was especially evident throughout the 1960’s, 
when the catch was increasing dramatically with the development 
of the Soviet high seas fishing fleet. 
In recent years, however, the increase in the consumption of fishery 
products in the U.S.S.R. slowed down somewhat. Although the Soviet 
