52 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28, No. 10 



Foreign Fishing Off United States 

 Coasts, August 1966 



IN NORTHWEST ATLANTIC 



U.S.S.R. : The July fog and haze off Georges 

 Bank and vicinity continued into August, again 

 restricting visibility and the observations of 

 Soviet fishing. The estimated size of the 

 fleet declined from an estimated 125 in early 

 August to about 50 by month's end. 



The decrease in Soviet fleet on Georges 

 Bank occurred rather early this year. In 

 1964, it had decreased abruptly (by about 50- 

 60 vessels) only in October--when most ves- 

 sels transferred operations to southeastern 

 Atlantic off Africa's coasts. The pattern was 

 repeated in 1965. In 1966, however, to save 

 fishing time, the Russians decided not to 

 transfer their northwest Atlantic trawler 

 fleet to the southeastern Atlantic. Some ves- 

 sels moved from Georges Bank to ICNAF 

 Subarea 4, others southward to the newly 

 opened Havana fishing port, and others re- 

 turned to home ports or to other fishing areas. 



Eighty-eight different vessels were sighted 

 during August: 25 factory stern trawlers, 22 

 medium side trawlers, 9 medium refriger- 

 ated side trawlers, 19 large refrigerated side 

 trawlers, 3 processing refrigerated fish 

 transports ( Skryplev class), 1 refrigerated 

 transport, 5 cargo and base ships, 1 tug, 2 

 tankers, and 1 research vessel. 



The fleet operated in two general areas -- 

 40 miles south of Nantucket Island and in the 

 Corsair Canyon area, 160 to 180 miles east 

 of Cape Cod. 



Ships were frequently scattered, indica- 

 ting fishing was generally poor. Whiting 

 (silver hake) appeared to be the predominant 

 species taken. Twice during the month, So- 

 viet vessels in the Corsair Canyon area were 

 observed with moderate to substantial amounts 

 of haddock on deck. Due to poor visibility, 

 the area could not be covered during the 

 month's last flight. 



Polish and Romanian: Two Polish stern 

 trawlers and one Romanian stern trawler 

 were observed fishing with the Soviet fleet 

 on Georges Bank. None of those vessels was 

 seen with fish on deck. 



East German: A large (3,000-gross -ton) 

 factory stern trawler (ROS 302) was fishing 

 near Georges Bank toward the end of August, 

 the first time since 1962 that the East Ger- 

 mans extended operations to southernmost 

 ICNAF subarea. Traditionally, they fish off 

 Greenland and Labrador, in the North Sea and 

 Baltic. This year, however, they also began 

 to fish for pilchards off South -West Africa 

 and to explore the South Atlantic. 



OFF MID-ATLANTIC 



U.S.S.R,: No Soviet fishing vessels sighted 

 off the U.S. mid-Atlantic coast during August, 

 except a few in transit headed north or south. 



IN GULF OF MEXICO AND CARIBBEAN 



U.S.S.R.: Medium freezer side trawlers 

 (class Maiak) continued to fish in Gulf of 

 Mexico, but not off U.S. coasts. They limited 

 activity mainly to Campeche Banks off Yucatan 

 Peninsula. Number of vessels fluctuated be- 

 tween 10 and 15. Although all are based at 

 the Havana fishing port, they belong adminis- 

 tratively to Kaliningrad Fisheries Administra- 

 tion. Early in 1966, that Administration formed 

 a special Command, the Expeditionary Fleet 

 Command, whose task is to start large-scale 

 operations in the southwestern Atlantic. The 

 Maiak-class, Havana -based Kaliningrad ves- 

 sels will eventually be deployed to the South 

 Atlantic. 



In addition to medium side trawlers, about 

 12 large stern trawlers also fished on Cam- 

 peche Banks. Some were deployed to the Gulf 

 from the Northwest Atlantic; others arrived 

 from Soviet ports. They belong also to the 

 Kaliningrad Expeditionary Fleet Command, 

 and some of them are reportedly fishing in 

 the Gulf of Mexico only temporarily. Later 

 they will be sent to the Southwest Atlantic. 



Some of those vessels were sighted off 

 Florida's coast on their way south. Others, 

 no doubt, were returning to home ports from 

 Cuban base. None was seen fishing. 



Cuban: No vessels were sighted fishing 

 off U.S. coasts. Some were reported fishing 

 off southwest coast of Puerto Rico. 



Mexican: In late July and early August, 

 Mexican shrimp trawlers were sighted fish- 

 ing off Texas. 



