Korelsky, V. F. Fish, fishermen and fish industry in Russia / V. F. Korelsky. - Bremen : Krebs, [1993?]-.

the use of set nets and sweep-nets was practiced in the Azov sea, in the deltas of the Don and the Kuban river. As much as 200 thousand tons of these valuable species of fish were caught there. At the end of the last, and at the beginning of this century, these regions supplied up to 85-90% of the whole catch of fish in Russia. It should be noted that the catch of sturgeon in the Volga-Caspian basin alone reached 35-40 thousand tons, which accounted for 95% of the world catch of this kind of fish. Fresh-water fishing was carried out in all the rivers and lakes of Russia, but the yield was rather poor, the whole catch did not exceed 180-200 thousand tons. The sea fishing was not developed. Small amounts of European anchory (up to 40-50 thousand tons) were caught in the Azov sea, of sprat and cod (5-10 thousand tons) in the Baltic sea, of herring and salmon (up to 100 thousand tons) in the coastal zone and in the mouths of the rivers flowing into the Far-Eastern seas, and of cod (about 10 thousand tons) which coast-dwellers caught in the Barents Sea. Separate attempts of organizing whale-fishing in the Sea of Okhotsk and trawling of walleye pollack and flat-fish in the Sea of Japan ended in failure. In 1913, 1051 thousand tons of fish were caught on the territory of the former USSR, among which 75 thousand tons, i.e., 7.1%, were sea fish (sea herring, prat, cod, flat-fish) and 976 thousand tons (92.9%), i.e., the remaining part of the catch consisted of typical fresh-water fish (Caspian roach, bream, pike perch, sturgeon, salmon, herring from the Azov and Caspian seas). Out of the total catch, only 16 thousand tons (1.5%) were caught from fishing-boats, and all the rest (98.5%) was caught by means of sweep or set nets, i.e., coastal stationary nets. Out of the 740- 750 thousand tons of fish products, salt fish and jerk fish constituted 70-75% (520-550 thousand tons), and frozen fish constituted 7% (55 thousand tons). This catch enabled each dweller in Russia to use, on the average, 5-6 kg of fish products. At the beginning of the 20th century, the fishing of Russia constituted 14-15% of the world catch and occupied one of the fust places among the countries engaged in fishing. By that time the fishing branch of the economy in the country could boast of a strict structure. A fishing department was formed at the Ministry of Agriculture, and fish guarding service was organized. Specialists in fish farming were trained at colleges. The first fish-breeding stations were established in the European part of the country, and in the Far East. The first research fishing-boat, the Andrei Pervozvanny, was specially constructed and began working on the Barents sea. On board the ship the work connected with scientific substantiation of the sweep-net fishing of cod was carried out. Russia actively participated in the work of the International Council on the Sea Study, the first international organization which studied the sea’s biological resources and which was formed on the initiative of Russian scientists. The first international agreements were concluded on the control of fishing salmon (Russian-Japanese fishing convention) and of hunting seals (with the participation of Russia, USA, Canada, and Japan). In 1913, the income brought in by fishing constituted 5 percent of the state budget. The fishing industry of the country was highly profitable. With minimum investments fishing industrialists got huge profits. Thus, in 1913, the annual fishing production in the Volga-Caspian basin was evaluated at 70 million roubles as against the total fixed capital of 7.7 million roubles, i.e., one rouble of the 1 1