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

The fish industry plays a noticeable part in the food industry of the country and even plays a leading role in some regions (in the Kamchatka region its share is over 70% of the total food production, it plays an essential role in the economy of the Primorye Territory, the Astrakhan, Kaliningrad, Murmansk, Sakhalin, and other regions). Being a constituent part of the Russian economy, the fish industry is developing in close connection with other industries. Today, its inter-branch ties are multilateral and versatile. At present, the fish industry supplies 58 branches of the national economy, such as chemical, leather and footwear, fur working, medical industry, the branches of the agro-industrial complex, and others. At the same time, it uses the production of 83 branches of industry of Russia and of other countries of the CIS. The fish industry is a major user of the railway, marine, motor, and air transport services. Being a powerful ship-owner, the fish industry is a heavy user of the liquid and the solid fuel. Every year, large amounts of cotton and synthetic materials are spent on the production of fishing tackle. In addition to net- knitting materials of its own production, the fish industry receives large amounts of them from the enterprises belonging to other departments (ropes and cables in the main). The fish industry is a significant consumer of salt. The fish economy is one of the most significant sources of supply of the population with foodstuffs, of their mostessential but yet rather scarce and irreplaceable component, the animal protein. The fish production is highly valuable because of a high concentration of protein in the unit of mass with necessary amount of irreplaceable amino acids. The biological value of the fish protein is not lower than that of meat but is more easily assimilated by the organism. Thus, whereas the human organism assimilates about 40 g out of 100 g of fish protein, it assimilates only 15 g out of 100 g of the protein contained in beef. The nutrient and commercial value of fish depends on its calorie content and, fust and foremost, on the fat content. The fat content in the flesh of different kinds of fish varies from 0.3 to 30%. The fat contained in fish is assimilated by the human organism quicker and more completely than the fat of the warm-blooded animals. As concerns the calorie content, one kg of meat can be replaced by 1.5 kg of fresh fish, one kg of salted or 0.5 kg of dried fish. The favorable effect of the fish diet can be explained by the content of fat rich in polyunsaturated acids contained in the sea hydrobionts. These acids lower the content of cholesterin, fatty acids, and low-density lipoproteins in blood, i.e., the content of the main factors of risk. In 1990, the consumption of fish stuffs per capita was 21 kg and the fish production constituted about 40% (in protein calculus) and over 20% in the total consumption of animal protein (including the meat and dairy products and eggs) in the meat-and-fish balance of the country. Fish is not only the source of protein and fat but also of some animal mineral substances necessary for the human organism and also of many vitamins. The fats of sea organisms are the source of vitamins A, D and E performing very important functions in the organisms of animals. The vitamin A provides for a rapid growth and a correct development of animals, especially of young animals, the vitamin D normalizes the phosphorus calcium metabolism making the bones of animals stronger. 2 6