417 
TABLE 1.—U.S.S.R. FISHING FLEET, BY TYPE OF CRAFT FOR SELECTED YEARS 
Type of craft 1940 1948 1953 1954 1955 1956 
PE Othe etee~ Norteeteds 36,406 44,332 54,595 55,837 58,624 60,443 
Ngee DOT, 3,158 8,303 9,925 10,872 12,387 
NTO I py. ee 123,900 243,200 610,700 725,300 834,200 982,600 
Nit as 107 329 1,184 1,379 1,598 1,785 
ST ENOISTS co oa { Porceukae 62,500 88,000 303,200 362,400 451,800 549,300 
f he a 376 407 1,221 1,395 1,517 1,724 
Seiners --_------.---+ Pyrat 18,900 29,200 147,200 175,800 194,200 225,700 
Nia ee tie 2,244 2,422 5,898 7,151 TST 8,878 
Other ___._.-.------ pHi 42,500 126,000 160,300 187,100 188,200 207,600 
4 ING Se 331679 41-174 46.992" 459108 47752 48,056 
Nonpowered -------3p 103,600 83,300 131,700 125,800 126,100 127,400 
Source: FAO. Yearbook of Fishery Statistics, Vol. VI (1955-1956). Rome: 1957 
N—number 
P — horsepower 
T—tonnage (GRT) 
The reader will note that the gross tonnage was given only for 
nonpowered vessels, most of which operate in Soviet inland lakes, 
rivers, and seas. 
In 1962, when FAO published its second (and most recent) statisti- 
cal compendium of the world’s fishing vessels, the Soviet Union no 
longer contributed its data in even the rudimentary format submitted 
in 1956. 
It is not unlikely that some authority in the Soviet defense establish- 
ment—probably in the Soviet Navy—decided that such statistics are 
““sensitive” information and prevented their release. 
Despite this unnecessary secrecy, which smacks of the old Stalinist 
methods, U.S. specialists are (and have always been) comparatively 
well-informed about the size and the composition of the Soviet fishing 
HeCE. 
It numbers over 80,000 fishing vessels; most of these are small 
coastal craft or inland-water boats used in the Caspian Sea, Lake 
Aral, Lake Baikal, on rivers and lakes, et cetera. Only about 4,400 
fishing and fishery support vessels are equipped for, or capable of, 
open-sea, distant-water operations. These vessels, however, constitute 
the largest fishing fleet in the world, with an estimated total tonnage 
of over 6 million gross tons. 
Table 2 is an attempt to compare official Soviet 1955 and 1940 
data, given to FAO, with what is known about the Soviet fishing 
fleet composition in 1975. 
The emphasis during the last two decades was on constructing 
powered fishing vessels, whose number is estimated to have increased 
almost sixfold since 1940 (from about 2,700 to about 18,000 units). 
The number of nonpowered vessels during a comparable timespan 
increased by less than 50 percent. The latter are small vessels, used 
mostly in inland waters and having on the average less than 3 gross 
tons each (see table 1 above). 
