5.1 The Moroccan fisheries
5.2 The Spanish fisheries
5.3 Other fleets
Two changes in the Moroccan sardine fisheries were reported with respect to the description given in the report of the first session of the Ad hoc Group. Some new Moroccan vessels have started to fish south of the traditional fishing area in 1978 and have extended their area of operations until the northern half of Zone B. The number of boats occasionally operating in this more southern area was about 15 by the end of 1978.
Furthermore, the recent rise in the price of pelagic fish other than sardine (mackerel and horse mackerel), has been the reason why, since 1978, many boats go fishing also when sardine shoals are not expected to be available within their action radius. Thus, the fishing effort is less dependent on the availability of the sardine, and the unit of effort in 1978 is not fully comparable with that of earlier years. For the same reason, the catch per unit of effort in 1978 cannot be directly compared with that of earlier years.
The only change in these fisheries reported to the meeting was a change in the average size and horse power of the active fleet of fishing vessels, which increased to 170 GRT and 467 hp in 1978.
The Soviet fleet fished up to 1979 mainly in Division 34.1.3 with trawlers of the class BMRT (85 m overall length, 2 000 hp), class RTMA (82 m overall length, 2 500 hp) and with seiners (52 m overall length, 800 hp). The number of ships varies substantially by season, most boats fishing in winter and spring, much less in summer and autumn.
This fishery is always a mixed one, with the strategy changing from year to year depending on the circumstances.
Before 1974 the Soviet trawlers used bottom trawls, in 1974 they changed to pelagic trawls. The seiners do not take fish on board, but the motherships pump the fish directly from the seine nets. At the end of 1978 fishing by USSR in Division 34.1.3 was terminated; USSR fished that year also in Division 34.1.1. (Zones A and B) with eight boats.
Polish fishing was suspended in October 1977 in Morocco waters and in February 1978 in the Mauritanian area. Romania, German Democratic Republic, Bulgaria and Bermuda continued to fish on the Sahara coast during 1977.
