393 
Since 1966, this one-sided investment policy has changed somewhat, 
although 69 percent of all investments continued to be spent for 
fishing and fishery support vessels during the 1966-70 period. It is 
expected that during the 1970’s the Soviets will switch their priorities 
once again and increase investment capital for programs aimed at 
perfecting the “‘shore facilities”. Several new fishing ports were con- 
structed in the early 1970’s, and modernization of cold-storage plants 
and automation of processing plants are becoming major investment 
objectives. 
In the last 20 years, the comparatively small volume of capital 
investment in shore-based enterprises, ship repair yards and port facili- 
ties, when compared to investment in the fishing fleet, has resulted 
in a rising disproportion between the development of the fleet and 
shore-based processing and support operations. A modern and 
technologically advanced fishing fleet operates on the high seas 
processing or semiprocessing up to 90 percent of the catch taken. 
This contrasts, however, with the inability of transport facilities and 
processing plants on shore to handle the catch efficiently once it 
reaches them. The result is spoilage and waste as products are held 
up in transit or improperly stored while awaiting distribution. A further 
consequence of the inadequate on-shore investment is the increased 
idling of fishery vessels in ports, ship repair time exceeding the 
planned periods, and the resulting under-utilization of the fleet.® 
During the ninth 5 Year Plan (1971-75), industry planners are 
hoping to alleviate some of these discrepancies between the shore 
plants and the fleet by increasing the amount of capital spent on 
ship repair yards, port facilities, and processing plants. However, 
“replenishment of the fleet’ still remains one of the major tasks 
of the Plan as new classes are continually added to the already long 
list of Soviet fishing vessels. 
THE FISHERIES CATCH 
During the last 25 years, Soviet fishermen have been remarkably 
successful in adding to the country’s fisheries catch. Increasing at 
an average annual rate of about 18 percent, the 1974 total Soviet 
catch of fish, shellfish, marine mammals, and other aquatic animals 
and plants amounted to 9.6 million metric tons (11.1 billion pounds), 
or 450 percent more than the 1.8 million tons which were harvested 
in 1950. This large increase was made possible by a spectacular 
build-up of the Soviet fishery fleet, which includes now over 850 
vessels supporting far-flung harvesting operations conducted by almost 
3,500 fishing vessels’ throughout the world’s oceans. (For details see | 
the chapter, ‘Soviet Fisheries Fleet; a Statistical Review.’’) 
The Soviet fisheries catch is increasing much more rapidly than 
the world’s catch and constituted about 14 percent of the latter in 
1973, the latest year for which comparative data are available.? From 
1950-73, the world’s fisheries catch increased at an annual rate of 
® During 1972, the ‘‘nonoperational”’ time of all large stern trawlers, the most modern and efficient 
vessels in the Soviet fleet, amounted to 27.3 percent. (V. Pozdniakov in Politicheskoe 
Samoobrazovanie, No. 12, 1973) 
7 Fishing vessels are equipped with gear to catch the fish. Fishery support vessels have no fishing 
gear and do not catch fish. Their function is to provide support to fishing vessels by receiving their 
catches, supplying stores, fuel, water, etc. 
‘In 1965, the Soviet fisheries catch was only 9.5 percent of the world’s. 
