July 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



99 



Soviet : No precise information on Soviet 

 fishing in this area is available. 



In mid-May 1966, a group of 65 Soviet tech- 

 nical experts and instructors arrived at Ha- 

 vana, Cuba, to replace Soviet instructors who 

 have been giving practical instruction for the 

 past six months in fishing techniques to Cuban 

 fishermen. The U.S.S.R. is maintaining a 

 strong liaison group with the Cuban Institute 

 of Fisheries, helping the Cubans in fishery 

 research, fishing techniques, technology, the 

 training of fishermen, construction of fishing 

 vessels, and the general organization of the 

 state -owned Cuban fishing industry. The 

 Cubans --like the Soviet Union- -are turning 

 to fisheries as a major source of animal pro- 

 tein as well as a prime source for obtaining 

 hard foreign currency. 



IN NORTHWEST ATLANTIC: 



Sovietl Soviet fishing activity increased 

 slightly during the month. By mid-May, ap- 

 proximately 90 vessels were operating off 

 southern New England. Several factory stern 

 trawlers were deployed to the mid -Atlantic 

 during the early part of the month, but some 

 of them had returned by the month's end. In 

 addition, the arrival of about 30 medium side 

 trawlers increased Soviet fishing fleet to a- 

 bout 110 vessels by the end of May. 



A total of 141 vessels (exclusive of dupli- 

 cation) was sighted during the month and 

 identified as 34 factory stern trawlers, 10 

 large freezer factory trawlers, 17 large re- 

 frigerated side trawlers, 21 medium refrig- 

 erated side trawlers, 47 medium side trawl- 

 ers, 5 refrigerated fish transports, 3 factory 

 base ships, 3 fuel and water carriers and 1 

 tug. This compares to 128 vessels sighted 

 during April 1966 and 125 reported in May 

 1965. 



This fleet continued to operate in large 

 groups dispersed along the 200 miles of the 

 100 -fathom curve of the Continental Shelf 

 from east of Atlantic City, New Jersey (Hud- 

 son Canyon), to south and southeast of the 

 Nantucket lightship off Massachusetts coast. 

 By the end of May, the fleet extended its op- 

 erations eastward to the southwest and south- 

 east Georges Bank. 



The principal species of fish taken by the 

 Soviets appeared to be whiting, red hake and 

 large herring. Their catch compositions 



were inconsistent and varied from vessel to 

 vessel. Although the majority of vessels was 

 actively engaged in fishing operations the 

 catches of fish were considered only moder- 

 ate to poor. 



Polish : One factory stern trawler was 

 sighted fishing on Georges Bank on May 24. (5 

 Polish stern trawlers were fishing on Geor- 

 ges Bank in September 1965.) 



OFF MID -ATLANTIC COASTS: 



Soviet : Fishing effort off mid -Atlantic 

 U. S. coast increased greatly during May. Ex- 

 clusive of duplications, 74 vessels were sight- 

 ed and identified as 53 factory stern trawlers, 

 6 large freezer factory trawlers, 9 large re- 

 frigerated side trawlers, 2 medium side trawl- 

 ers and 4 refrigerated fish transports. 



By mid-May between 60 and 70 Soviet ves- 

 sels were dispersed along 200 miles of the 

 100 -fathom curve from 45 miles northeast of 

 Oregon Inlet (N,C.) to 90 miles east of Cape 

 May, N.J. By the third week, these vessels 

 returned to Georges Bank or to the fishing 

 grounds off Nova Scotia and less than ten So- 

 viet vessels remained in mid-Atlantic. 



Heavy catches of fish appeared to be pri- 

 marily scup (porgies) and whiting. Numer- 

 ous trawls were observed bulging with fish-- 

 estimated catches of 30,000 to 40,000 pounds. 

 There seemed to be little doubt that the So- 

 viets were fishing in a productive scup area. 

 This amazed Virginia fishermen who stated 

 that they found little or no fish in these areas. 

 (Normally, U.S. fishermen in these areas 

 engage in other fisheries by the end of May 

 when the scup season ends.) 



U. S. fishermen were impressed and con- 

 cerned about the size and catch capabilities 

 of the Soviet stern trawlers. The fishermen 

 link the Soviet success in catching fish when 

 U. S. vessels are unable to do so to their a- 

 bility to fish in greater depths and catch fish 

 when they rise off the bottom. They also 

 maintain that the Soviets have superior fish- 

 finding devices. 



This was the largest concentration of So- 

 viet vessels to operate along the mid-Atlan- 

 tic coast. Of particular interest was the So- 

 viets' increased interest in scup. During 

 March 1964 about 15 Soviet stern trawlers 

 took substantial quantities of scup east of 

 Virginia Capes. 



