The principal direction of fishing development have been specified by the Marine Doctrine and Concept of development of fishery industry of the Russian federation up to 2020 year and foresee:

- enchancing state control over fishing and rational use of fishing fleet;

- creation of conditions that encourage placing of orders for the construction of fishing vessels at Russian yards mostly;

- preservation and development of state licensing for the construction of new and sale of operated vessels with the purpose to keep optimal balance between the number of vessels and volume of allowable catches, systematical rational renewal of fishing fleet;

- harmonization of fishing fleet catching capacities with volumes of aquatic biological resources.

The trend analysis of changes in number, type and age of the Northern basin fishing fleet shows that within the last 15 years the number of vessels, super large and large mostly, has been systematically discreasing. The number of vessels being operated beyond their normal standardized life-time is steadily rising and exceeds 70 per cent of the total number.

Considerable elimination of the Russian fishing fleet activity in distant regions of the World Ocean resulted in relocation of vessels to nearest fishing grounds, which, in turn, broke the balance between the fleet productive capacity and TAC - in case of highly profitable objects of fishing first of all. As a results the total productive potential of vessels exceeded over their TAC. In consequence the productive potential of fleet was underused and economical efficiency of its operation went down. The situation being also aggravated by unregulated, chaotic renewal of fishing fleet at the account of purchasing and operation of second-hand vessels.

Sustainable and efficience use of aquatic biological resources as well as preservation of their habitat requires exclusively safe and economically efficient fishing vessels. The fleet renewal shall be carried out with obligatory observance of the balance between TACs and total productive capacity of fishing vessels.

Construction of a new vessels shall be accompanied by:

- state financial support rendered to ship owners when they purchase and operate new vessels, and while supplying them catching quotas for the payback period;

- rendering of the state support shall be based on the results of the state examination of technical and economical feasibility report for the vessels with the purpose to define if she complies with sectorial strategy of fishing fleet development, her technical level corresponds to world standards and economical indicies suit terms of crediting.

With the purpose to enchance efficiency of using financial means allocated by the state for the financial support of ship owners for purchasing new vessels it is expedient to adopt the Program for the development (construction) of fishing fleet up to 2010-2020 that foresees financial, legal and organization measures implementation of which will provide sectirial fleet development.

The GIPRORYBFLOT has developed proposals concerning the type and number of promising fishing fleet vessels of Russia including those intended for the operation in the Southern-Eastern Atlantic.

FISHERY IN NORTH ATLANTIC: REALITY AND PROSPECTS