388 
in the late 1960’s, this trend has continued, becoming especially 
pronounced since 1972. 
Soviet fishery imports, on the other hand, peaked in 1954 and 
have since been on a downward trend, excluding several fluctuations 
which were caused in part by political factors. In 1974, for example, 
Soviet imports of fishery products from abroad consisted of 2,000 
tons of fresh and frozen fish and caviar from Iran and 11,500 tons 
of fresh and frozen fish, fish fillets, and fish meal from Iceland. The 
most valuable single purchase from Iran was caviar, which is not 
sold in the U.S.S.R., but reexported to West European countries and 
the United States to earn hard foreign currencies. The Soviet Union 
continues to buy fish in Iceland as part of-a barter agreement under 
which the Soviets supply Iceland with oil and gasoline products. 
Soviet fishery exports have become progressively more valuable, 
not only to the Soviet Ministry of Fisheries, but to the Soviet economy 
as well. Under the Soviet system, a Ministry generating foreign cur- 
rencies has preferential treatment, both in obtaining domestic rubles 
for investment and hard-to-get foreign funds. 
In 1974, Soviet fishery exports amounting to over 125 million rubles 
exceeded imports, totaling 17 million rubles, by more than 108 million 
rubles. This surplus balance of trade is almost as large as the total 
Soviet fishery imports for the past 8 years, and is a clear indication 
that the Soviet fishing industry is becoming an important earner of 
foreign exchange for the Soviet Government. 
Large amounts of Soviet fishery products are sold to African coun- 
tries such as the Ivory Coast, Togo, Sierra Leone, and Egypt. The 
Soviet Union, since the early 1960’s, has pursued a policy of selling 
fish in Africa as a form of ‘“‘foreign aid”’ to these developing countries. 
Soviet trawlers, operating off the African coasts, come into nearby 
ports and sell their catch directly to local merchants at low prices. 
The trawlers, which are large and visible, cannot help but make an 
impression on the population of the port. 
The fishery exports sold to African countries are mostly fresh and 
frozen semiprocessed products. Fishery commodities exported to 
Western and Eastern Europe, however, are generally more valuable 
products such as canned crab, caviar, and canned fish of various 
kinds, including salmon and tuna. 
FISHERY INVESTMENTS 
During the current 5 Year Plan (1971-75), the Soviet Government 
is to spend about 4 billion rubles (U.S. $5.2 billion 2) for the develop- 
ment and expansion of its fishing industry (see table 1). About 60-70 
percent of this sum will be invested in new fishery vessels. The 
1971-75 annual fishery ‘‘appropriations’”’ are about 20 percent greater 
than they were during the previous 5-year period.* Nevertheless, their 
rate of growth has slowed down from that of the late 1950’s and 
1960’s when fishery investments doubled every 5 years. 
The Soviet budget is published in two parts: One includes all expen- 
ditures (including social, cultural and economic expenditures), the 
2 Because of changing exchange rates, figures will be given in rubles. The current exchange rate is 
U.S. $1.32 equals 1 ruble. 
3 The planned investment for the 1966-70 period was 3.5 billion rubles, but the actual investment 
was reportedly 3.3 billion rubles. 
