427 
The data for both Japan and the Soviet Union are somewhat 
misrepresentative because their catch of marine mammals (whales, 
seals, et cetera) is not included in their 1973 catch data. The Soviet 
Union’s total fisheries catch in 1973 was 9,005,000 metric tons (mt), 
but that of Japan is not known.2!, The number of Soviet vessels 
is somewhat larger than in 1975 (when the fleet was estimated at 
about 4,400 vessels; see table 2 in the chapter “‘Soviet fisheries fleet; 
a Statistical review’’) because in 1973 the Soviets had not yet retired 
several hundred older fishing vessels. 
Despite such deficiencies in the statistics, it is immediately evident 
that the Soviet fisheries are the least productive: only 1.3 mt were 
caught per gross registered ton (GRT). It is clear that long trips 
away from Soviet shores and the large number of support vessels 
are costing Soviet fishermen greatly in productivity. More than one- 
half of the Soviet fishery tonnage consists of support vessels. In con- 
trast, less than 14 percent of the gross tonnage of the Japanese high 
seas fleet is composed of support vessels. 
Spain, which also recently expanded its distant-water fleet and 
deploys more and more large vessels, is the second lowest in produc- 
tivity per GRT, but still almost twice as productive as the U.S.S.R. 
Japan’s catch per GRT of 7.1 metric tons is suprisingly high. This 
country operates its vessels in a manner not too different from that 
of the Soviet Union. Both send large flotillas of fishing vessels, accom- 
panied by motherships, to distant fishing grounds, and both operate 
large stern factory trawlers. There are, however, several differences: 
1. Japan’s fishing industry is more willing to spend abundant foreign 
currencies for services in foreign ports and needs thus far fewer tank- 
ers, water carriers, repair vessels and other support vessels. (Lloyd’s 
Register of Shipping estimates Japan’s support fleet at 71 vessels with 
217,000 GRT. The Soviet fishery fleet is estimated by Lloyd’s at 
527 vessels with 2.8 million GRT.) It is easier for the Soviets to 
pay more for support operations in available and expendable rubles 
than to pay for foreign-port services in hard-to-get foreign currencies. 
2. Japan still maintains traditional coastal fisheries close to its 
shores. Thousands of small vessels of less than 100 GRT—and there- 
fore excluded from table 4—bring in fish which are included in the 
1973 catch figure. Soviet coastal fisheries, in contrast, are becoming 
less and less important for two reasons: The resources off U.S.S.R. 
shores have been overfished and young Soviet fishermen prefer to 
enter high seas fishing where earnings are greater. 
3. There will be those who will maintain that the Japanese fishermen 
are more successful because they operate under a commercial system 
intolerant of inefficiency, while the Soviets operate under a state- 
directed, socialist system. We would not quarrel with that opinion. 
Whatever other reasons could be added, the conclusion that 
Japanese fishermen are exceedingly more productive than those of 
the Soviet Union is inescapable. 
U.S. fishermen are also highly productive. Fishing from their home 
ports at distances which do not require many support vessels, they 
21 Japan does not give its whale catches in terms of metric tons, nor does it give a total fisheries 
catch figure like the one given by the Soviets from which the whale catches expressed in metric tons 
can be inferred. What the Japanese do provide is the total fish and shellfish catch as well as the har- 
vest of marine plants. 
