A good climate for fishing in the North

Georgy TISHKOV,

President of Sevryba

Sevryba, a closed joint-stock company uniting fishing firms throughout northwestern Russia, was founded in 1992. The 33 independent firms from the Murmansk and Arkhangelsk oblasts and the Republic of Karelia that make up Sevryba's shareholders produce over 25 percent of the fish consumed in the Russian Federation. The company's main goals are to work out a development strategy for the fishing industry, to coordinate the activities of fishing companies in the northern basin and to assist the industry's suppliers.

The current structure of the fishing industry in the northern basin took shape during the process of centralized economic transformations and privatization at the end of 1992, when Sevryba was founded and most firms in the industry were privatized. By April 1993 virtually every fishing firm in the region had become a Sevryba stockholder. Local State Property Committee offices also acquired a share, giving the government a 15-percent interest in the company.

The fishing enterprises of the northern basin form a single production chain with four major subdivisions:

First, there are the actual fishing firms: Murmansk Trawler Fleet, Murmanrybprom (Murmansk Fishing), Arkhangelsk Trawling Fleet, Karelrybflot (Karelia Fishing Fleet), the Union of Fishermen of the North, and others.

Second, there are fish processing enterprises: Briz, Arctic Fish, Color Fish, Protein, Northern Palmyra, and Polaris.

Third, there are the support companies: Sevrybkholodflot (Northern Refrigerated Fishing Fleet), Murmansk Fish Port, Murmansk Shipyard, Fabrika Orudy Lova (Fishing Equipment Factory), Tarny Kombinat (Packing Facilities), Sevrybobyt, and others.

Fourth, there are research, forecasting, and design bureaus: the Polar Marine Research Institute Sevrybpromrazvedka (Northern Fishing Tracking), Sevrybtekhtsentr (Scientific and Production Amalgamation), and Sevgiprorybflot.

In 1994 Sevryba affiliates had a combined catch of 564,400 tonnes and produced 448,300 tonnes of seafood.

The annual catch is projected at 668,900 tonnes. Seafood output is expected to be 530,000 tonnes. Roughly 90 percent of all production is carried out at sea aboard Sevryba's 240 ships operating in the Northeast Atlantic, the Northwest Atlantic, the East-Central Atlantic, and the Southeast Atlantic. Every year a significant portion of the refrigerated and frozen seafood produced by Sevryba is exported to Norway, Denmark, England, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and a number of other countries.

As part of Fish-2010, the federal plan for the development of the fishing industry, a program for the thoroughgoing modernization and renovation of the fishing industry in the northern basin has been worked out. Implementation of the program will allow the northern fishing industry to develop successfully in the market economy without state subsidies.

In keeping with the program, the first of a new generation of trawlers was built and put into service. The results have already demonstrated the utility of the program. Preparatory work is being completed for the construction of 10 more modern trawlers; six will be built in Germany, and four in Denmark. They will be used by Murmansk Trawling Fleet and other firms.

In addition to ships, the program also calls for significant renovations in onshore processing plants and infrastructure.

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions:

1. What kind of company is Sevryba?

2. When was it founded?

3. What are the main goals of the company?

4. What is the current structure of the company?

5. What is the annual catch of fish?

6. What is the seafood output?

7. What does a program for the thoroughgoing modernization and renovation of the fishing industry in the northern basin include?

TEXT 3

Exercise 1. Read and translate the text with the help of a dictionary.