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Marine Fishing and Fishing Industry of Crimea

Marine fishing and the fish processing industry are an important branch of the Crimean Peninsula's economy, relying on the biological resources of the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Following significant decline and material losses during World War II and Soviet management within the RSFSR, the recovery of the fishing industry became one of the priority tasks of the government of the Ukrainian SSR after 1954.

Overview

The presence of two warm seas—the Sea of Azov (unique in its biological productivity, reaching up to 80 kg of fish per 1 km² of water surface) and the Black Sea—created favorable conditions for fishing in Crimea. In the pre-war period (up to 1941), the peninsula's fishing industry possessed a developed infrastructure (9 fish processing plants and 2 canneries, 27 fishing collective farms, 5 MRS) with a catch of 620,000 centners of fish in 1940. During World War II, the fleet and enterprises were almost completely destroyed, and skilled personnel were lost due to military actions and the 1944 deportation. In the first post-war decade (1944–1953) under the administration of the RSFSR, the sector remained in a deep crisis, systematically failing to meet state catch targets. After the transfer of Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR in 1954, the Ukrainian government initiated comprehensive measures to reorganize the fishing industry, restore the fleet, protect biological resources, and develop new fishery operations.

Key Details / Subtopics

  • Natural Resource Potential of the Seas:
  • Sea of Azov: The richest sea in productivity (80 kg/km²); 79 species of Mediterranean and 26 species of freshwater fish held commercial importance (tyulka, anchovy, gobies, pike-perch, bream, carp, sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, beluga, taran, flounder, herring).
  • Black Sea: Rich species composition (gobies, anchovy, sprat, herring, beluga, salmon, mackerel, horse mackerel, sardines, mullet); in the 1960s–1970s, catches in the Black Sea basin reached over 1 million tons per year.
  • Pre-war State (1940):
  • Infrastructure: 9 fish processing plants and 2 canneries, a shipyard, 5 motor-fishing stations (MRS), 27 fishing collective farms, a state fishing base.
  • Fleet: 220 motorized and 310 rowing vessels; number of fishermen — 2,500 people.
  • Catch volume: 620,000 centners of fish.
  • Post-war Decline and Personnel Deficit (1944–1953):
  • Destruction of the fleet and processing infrastructure during the war; lack of raw materials made it impossible for fish processing plants to operate.
  • Personnel catastrophe: loss of fishermen at the front lines and the deportation of Crimea's indigenous peoples and inhabitants in 1944.
  • Figures for 1953 (the final year as part of the RSFSR): 10 fish processing plants, 1 fish combine, 5 inter-district fishing unions, 30 fishing collective farms. Against a target of 716,000 centners, only 450,000 centners were caught (63% fulfillment).
  • Initiatives of the Government of the Ukrainian SSR to Revive the Industry (from 1954–1955):
  • Council of Ministers of the UkrSSR meeting on January 19, 1955, chaired by H. Onyshchenko and attended by O. Yashchenko, where the activities of the Crimean State Fish Trust were recognized as unsatisfactory due to reliance exclusively on low-value species (anchovy, tyulka, gobies) and depletion of resources.
  • Initiative sent to USSR Gosplan for a temporary ban on overfishing low-value fish in the Sea of Azov to restore biopopulations.
  • Fleet expansion: by 1954, the fleet had increased to 300 motorized and 1,200 rowing vessels, and the number of workers grew to 2,200 people (catch reached ~500,000 centners).
  • Reorganization measures: consolidation of fisheries, reorganization of fish processing plants, revision of the wage system at "Rybovylov", scientific support, creation of mullet farms in the Syvash area, survey of Syvash and Molochnyi Estuary, plan to construct a mussel processing plant.
  • Risks of Residual Mine Hazards for Fishing:
  • Presence of depth charges and WWII sea mines as well as unexploded ordnance in former firing ranges created hazardous areas for bottom trawling in the Black Sea (particularly off Cape Lukull).
  • The lifting of restrictions on civil fishing in the 1990s without mine clearance led to the loss of SAOR fishing vessels (1996) and the seiner "Shkval" (1998).