Small business in the fishing industry

Vladimir GORSHECHNIKOV,

President of the Fishery Industrial Association

The development program of the Russian Fishery Industrial Association (RFIA) calls for the catch, processing and sale of seafood (including canned seafood) to be increased by a factor of 1.8 between 1995 and 2010. Receipts should increase by a factor of 1.9 in the same period. Between 1996 and 2010, $215 million should be invested in stock and equipment, of which $160 million should go to the fishing fleet.

The Russian Fishing Industry Association (RFIA), a private-sec­tor organization active in our country, has assisted in the devel­opment of small business in the fishing industry. Forced like the rest of the economy to move toward a free market system, the region expe­rienced the rapid formation of new corporate structures with differing mixes of state and private own­ership. Over 1,000 such enter­prises and organizations exist today.

Instability was rampant, but the newly-minted businessmen were desperate to work and live like nor­mal people. They quickly saw that their only hope lay in setting up an organization capable of solving the host of problems besetting them.

The founding conference of the RFIA was held in March 2009. Three months later the Association was officially registered. It was based on the TINAR research and production firm, which specialized in adapting technology to the needs of the industry. This con­cept was central to the work of the Association.

Originally comprising 36 mem­bers, the SFIA now includes 111 private, semi-private, and state-owned firms representing small and medium-sized business in the Sakhalin oblast.

The RFIA is recognized by all levels of government. The State Fisheries Committee has provid­ed invaluable support.

As president of the SFIA, I am a member of the Fishing Council of the Sakhalin oblast. The Council makes recommendations on quo­tas for dividing the catch among fishing enterprises. I am also co-chairman of the governor's board of directors, which oversees fishing in the Sakhalin oblast.

We see clearly that small and medium-sized business could play a key economic role in the Sakhalin fishing industry as it moves to a market-based system. To raise the effectiveness of small business, two problems must be solved. First, the bulk of activity in the industry must to be shifted from commerce to production. Second, the state needs to pro­vide real support for business.

This support should take the form, first and foremost, of a leg­islative framework within which all types of business may take root and flourish without hindrance. Other necessary measures include assistance in the development of a market infrastructure (wholesale markets, retail outlets, exchanges), and a financial infrastructure (banks, insurance companies, investment funds, etc.) aimed at small and medium-sized business. Also important are the implemen­tation of more favorable policies on taxation, lending, and price control.

But these goals cannot be realized without a reorganization of the national fisheries manage­ment system. Restoring relations does not mean recreating the old system, but shifting to a qualita­tively new structure, namely a sys­tem where decisions affecting the industry are worked out and imple­mented with the help of the SFIA. This will require the creation and development of adequate market relations in every aspect of the industry: legislative and legal bases; domestic and foreign trade, including futures operations; finance, including lending and mortgaging; securities; equipment and technology; entrepreneurial support; social development; and personnel.

Exercise 2. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the sphere of activities of the Russian Fishing Industry Association?

2. How many fishing organizatons of small business exist nowadays in our region?

3. What role can play small and medium-sized business?

4. What support for small business is provided by the Assciation?

5. Why should the reorganization of the whole system be done?

TEXT2

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