FISHERY GEOGRAPHY OF THE RUSSIAN EMPIRE IN THE BLACK SEA

Abstract

The article presents the retrospective historical analysis of the development of fisheries in the Black Sea in Russia since the fall of the Crimean khanate in 1783 to 1917 and analyzes the structure and species composition of commercial biological resources of the Black Sea. The geography, catch composition, scale and fishing methods during spontaneous (consumer-oriented) fisheries were investigated. The comparative analysis of its quantitative and qualitative characteristics in the main fishing areas of the northern Black Sea and off the Caucasian coast was carried out. It was noted that by the end of the 19th century the annual Russian catch in the Black Sea reached up to 40000 tons of valuable fish species (mackerel, sturgeons, herring, mullets, surmullet). By 1914, due to absence of fishery regulation the total annual catch fell down to 10000 tons. At the same time, fisheries of the “low-value” species began to develop along the entire Crimean coast. In 1906–1913, extraction of anchovy came in first place by catch weight among all fishery types.