International and economic policy aspects of the Soviet ocean-going fishing industry

• Main Author: Crone Bilger, Cameron
• Published: London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London) 1990
• Subjects: 338.3
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.645266

This thesis examines the economic and political aspects of the Soviet distant water fleet. The Soviet Union is the number two fishing nation, responsible for 12% of the world catch. The USSR is planning to further expand its efforts by implementing a multifaceted strategy to increase the quantity and quality of fish and fish products. However, future expansion is unlikely. The 1990's will be a challenging decade for the Soviet fishing industry. Fish will remain a source of much sought after hard currency and food, but the prospects for the optimistic growth forecasted by the Soviet government are not realistic. Despite the current profitability of this industry, several factors limit future growth of this sector, including restricted Soviet access to coastal fisheries, depleted stocks worldwide, as well as the high cost of open ocean fishing operations. In addition, there is pressure for global conservation for many of the stocks targeted by the Soviet distant water fleet. This has led to the increase of regional management schemes in the South Pacific, East Caribbean, and the Antarctic which effectively close off most new areas of expansion to the USSR. As a result, the Soviet fishing industry has increasingly turned to developing its coastal fisheries and mariculture capabilities to increase its annual harvest.