October 1966 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



53 



OFF PACIFIC NORTHWEST 

 (Washington and Oregon) 



U.S.S.R.: The fleet, which numbered 100- 

 110 fishing and support vessels during June, 

 July, and first two weeks in August, had only 

 about 80 vessels by end of August -early 

 September (table). 



Number of Soviet Trawlers and Support Vessels Sighted 



Off Pacific Nortliwest, July -Mid-September 1966 



Week ending: 



ST MT 



Other 



Total 



July 2.. . . . 



8 76 



21 



105 



July 9 . . . 





7 80 



23 



110 



July 16 . . 





9 78 



24 



111 



July 23 . . 





9 64 



21 



104 



July 30 . . 





11 76 



18 



105 



Aug. 6 . . 





13 72 



23 



108 



Aug. 13. . 





10 77 



19 



106 



Aug. 20. . 





4 58 



20 



82 



Aug. 27. . 





2 56 



19 



77 



Sept. 3 . . 





3 58 



23 



84 



Sept. 10 . 





6 56 



19 



81 



Sept. 15 . 





5 58 



20 



83 



Note: "ST" - Largefactory stern tniwlers(2, 600-3, 200grosstons). 



"MT" -Medium trawlers (250-600 gross tons). 



"Otlier" -Floating factories refrigerated carriers, transports, 



tugs, tankers, research vessels, andothersupport 



vessels. 



From August 6 to September 15, number 

 of large stern freezer trawlers was reduced 

 from 13 to 5, and medium side trawlers from 

 72 to 58. This was significant decrease in 

 Soviet fishing effort off Pacific Northwest; it 

 was probably caused by the beginning of her- 

 ring fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk and off 

 Kamchatka's coasts, and saury fishing off 

 Kuril Islands and Hokkaido. 



Number of support vessels remained al- 

 most the same, indicating smaller fleet was 

 making good catches. 



The vessels fished in heavy concentra- 

 tions, moving up and down the coast as fish 

 were available. 



Early in August, the fleet was fishing off 

 Destruction Island. Then part of it moved 

 south to Grays Harbor and Willapa Bay, and 

 part north to Cape Flattery off northern 

 Washington. At least 6 medium trawlers 

 were fishing in pairs using 3 midwater trawls. 

 Several vessels (at least 3 stern trawlers 

 and 2 medium trawlers) were reported fish- 

 ing about 20 miles off Cape Beale, off south- 

 western Vancouver Island, British Columbia. 



■By mid-August the fleet, still scattered 

 from mouth of the Columbia River to Straits 

 of Juan de Fuca, moved seaward; some ves- 

 sels- fished as far as 50 miles from U. S. 

 shores. 



By August 25, the fleet was again reported 

 near the U.S. coasts, divided into two groups: 

 one with 50 vessels was fishing for hake and 

 orange rockfish off Newport, Oregon, con- 

 centrated in a 10 -mile radius. The second 

 with 32 vessels was fishing for hake off Will- 

 apa Harbor, Washington. 



By the end of August, only about 30 ves- 

 sels remained off Oregon's coast, the rest 

 moved north off Willapa Harbor. The catches 

 off Oregon were excellent and somewhat bet- 

 ter than off Washington coast. 



In the first week of August, Pacific hake 

 catches appeared about average: the greatest 

 was around 30,000 pounds; the smallest about 

 2,000 pounds. 



In the second and third weeks, hake was 

 still principal catch; however, the vessels 

 off Destruction Island and to the north were 

 reported catching more Pacific ocean perch 

 and other rockfish than hake. Several ves- 

 sels were seen with good catches of red snap- 

 per on deck. 



By the end of August, when the fleet split 

 into two groups (one off Oregon, the other off 

 Washington), hake was again the principal 

 species caught. Medium trawlers fishing off 

 Oregon were seen taking as much as 25,000 

 pounds, and a "twin" trawl was observed with 

 estimated catch of 150,000 pounds of hake. 

 Some green-spotted or green-striped rockfish 

 were also taken. 



The estimated 1966 Soviet catch of Pacific 

 hake off U. S. coasts amounted to over 60,000 

 metric tons (about 132 million pounds) by mid- 

 August. The Soviet quota for 1966 is 100,000 

 metric tons. 



The research vessel Adler tried to enter 

 port of Vancouver, British Columbia (Canada), 

 for repairs at end of July, but Canadian offi- 

 cials determined the repairs- were not of 

 emergency nature. Earlier, the Canadians 

 did allow the Adler to resupply at Vancouver. 

 By August 2, the vessel was again conducting 

 research off Cape Elisabeth (Washington), 

 then moved south to study fishery resources 

 off California and northern Mexico. By mid- 

 month, she returned north for short time be- 

 fore returning to Vladivostok; she arrived 

 September 10. Her principal mission was 

 investigation of fishery resources off U. S. 

 and Mexican coasts for future exploitation. 



