PROVINCIAL OFFICE OF CENTRAL FISHERIES IN OPOLE

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002000090004-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 12
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 14, 2004
• Sequence Number: 4
• Publication Date: January 19, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

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W
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
CO `IDENTIAL
COUNTRY Poland
Provincial Office of Central Fisheries
in Opole
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This Document contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within tae mean-
in` of Title 18, Sections'!ki and 794, of the U.B. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person V prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
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19 Tanua}'y 1954
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25X1 Attached is as received
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CONFIDENTIAL
STATE ARMY NAVY AIR FBI AEC
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COUNTRY Poland
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REPORT
DATE DISTR. 20 Nov. 19b3
SUBJECT Provincial Office of Central
Fisheries, Opole
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PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED B
DATE OF INF
NO. OF PAGES 11
NO. OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
25X1 Organization
1. The provincial office of Central Fisheries in Opole LT 50-140,
E 1T-517 (Wojewodzkie Biuro Centrali Rybnej) was located at Waryneki
Street o. 2. Central Fisheries was the state enterprise through
which the Ministry of Internal Trade (Minieterstwo Handlu Wewn-
-etrznego - MHW) controlled the entire fish industry. Control was
exercised mainly through plans drawn up in the office of the Central
Fisheries in Warsaw. These plans assumed aomplete~ control of all
salt and fresh-water fish catches; plane for distribution were based
on the catches. Results of these plans were:
a. Price control in the form of stable prices, (If prices fluctu-
ate, they generally rise, not fall.)
b. An attempt to force the sale of fish in no particular demand.
a. A limited and minimum distribution of fish in demand. The re-
maining fish were apparently exported.
2. Initial eta es of or anization of Central Fisheries took place in
19,47, lit Was first intro
25X1 duced in the city of Chorzow 50-18, E 1 -5 . In 1952 it was
given the name of Central Fis eries. The biggest problem which arose
was the setting up of a suitable and workable accounting system. In
the Province of Opole, for example, the provincial office of Central
Fisheries made use of a very disorganized and inaccurate accounting
system for about six months. The result was an extremely distorted
C0N.PIDENT:IAL
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picture'Of the true status of Central Fisheries in that particular
province Records of supply ara uistribu.tion were in complete
chaos and reference to exisr.-,nv,, ac-co ting records was useless.
No y :satisfactor ountingpreports were sent to Warsaw and, more
in
important, the planning department of this branch was at a loss
drawing up distribution plans from an undetermined supply as far
as records were concerned. The fact that the State reserve supply
was kept in the same state-owned refrigerator added to the general
confusion and made distribution plans more difficult to formulate.
At the end of six however, the
Leszczynski, a leading
a more efficient system of accounting.
Supply
4.
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lannual supply of fish. There were three
main sources, namely:
a. Salt-water fish from Gdynia ff 54-30, E 18-337 and Szczecin
ARKA and
'
a ions
i
,
z
were two organ
A 50-49, E 21-527. There
DALMOR, which were the primary funnels of distribution to the
"wholesalers", or provincial offices, for the supply of salt-
water fish. Both organizations received their plans of dis-
tribution from the Warsaw office and shipped Quantities of fish
the provinces specified in the plan.
Fresh-water rivers and lakes. All fresh-water catches were made
by the Fishing Industry Bases (Bazy Zarybniowe) which were state-
controlled enterprises.
c. State-owned ponds for breeding and raising fish. These breeding
places were under control of the State Farms (Panstwowe Gos-
podaretwa Rolne - PGR). Ponds or lakes used for breading pur-
poses were located on these farms. Carp was the fish most
commonly bred.
Shipping
5. The carp catch, referred to as the Carp Act (Akcja Karpjowa), was
usually made in the fall and winter months. The carp were trans-
ported alive in railroad tank cars, each capable o carrying about
three tons of fish. Upon arrival, they were picks up by the pro-wate onrarucf f plawereced thatroffice.
on trucks;
6. Carp was the only kind of fish transported alive. Other fish, for
example cod, were shipped in railroad cars refrigerated with chopped
ice. Prior to shipment from Gdynia the heads of the cod were removed
and the fish eviscerated. As soon as the fish were eviscerated, they
Ship-
were iced and shipped by rail on a strict priority basis.
ping regulations were stringent. For example, in shipping fresh
fish by rail to the outlying villages through the Central Farmerd'
Cooperative, the regulation read that fresh fish were not to be
held at railroad, stations for longer than two hours. If it was
established that the fish were spoiled in transit, the railroad
was held responsible. There ware numerous instances in which the
railroads deferred shipment or industrial items to expedite the
shipment of fish or were forcez3 to pay for fish spoiled because of
delays in shipping.
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Refrigeration
7. The fish picked up by tank truck were separate consignments.
Some were'taken to the tanks belonging to the provincial office
and some were'taken to the state-owned refrigerator (chlodnia
skladowa) located. in the city. Of those stored in the refrigera-
tion plant some were earmarked for the State Reserve, some belonged
to"the provincial office, and some could be assigned to a neighbor-
ing provincial office which lacked refrigeration space.for the fish
alloted to it. A greater number of fish were alioted to the State
Reserve than were set aside for distribution and sale.
25X1 8? the refrigeration depot in Opole was adequate
with respect to both space and refrigeration. F_ I
25X1 F__ I Visitors were permitted at that me n ce ebra-
tion of the opening of the plant, a special occasion, it was said,
25X1 because the plant, in its entirety, was made of Polish products.
Two refrigerating machines were housed in a room approximately
25X1 ~16 m, x 30 M. and plans called for their use alternately or as
spares in case of breakdown. The room reeked of ammonia.
no serious or recurrent breakdowns and only a negligible
25X1A quan y of fish were spoiled, not enough to cause serious concern.
This could-be attributed to the fact that the temperature was
closely watched and negligence was punishable by wage reductions, a
measure probably adopted by the management of the plant which was
25X1 held responsible and suffered the loss if fish were inedible because
of over-freezing or spoilage.
25X1 a large amount of fish spoiled in the Krakow
50-05o E l9 5 refrigeration plant.
9. The refrigerators in Bytom 50-21, E 18-5_q and Wroclaw 51.06,
E 17-027 were usually fille when there was a good catch; isb al-
lotedo both the State Reserve and the provincial office were
stored. And, despite the fact that the provincial office was not
25X1 compensated for transporting State Reserve fish to the refrigera-
25X1A directors always feared that profits would be consumed by rent.
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ere were 2,000,000 zloty worth of fish stored there.
25X1 10. There were no cold storage facilities in retail stores and few in
25X1 private homes, Further, Inc nfacilities in army installa-
tions; the 2nd Tank Regt. in Opole had no means of refrigeration.
11. The provincial office was responsible for killing the carp which
arrived alive to be stored in the refrigerator. This Included fish
alloted to the State Reserve. The live fish were,delivered to the
refrigeration plant for killing and eventual storage. There a crew,
equipped with an electrical rod, was sent by the provincial office
to kill the carp. Between 40 and 50 kilos could be killed with
the rod at one time. The fish were not eviscerated.
25X1 Canning Factories and Fish-Oil Extracting Plants
12.
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factories located in the following cities:
Gdansk, 54-21a E 18-4 , Zielona Gora f' 51-36, E 15-397 (which
had the Largest factor Gez sko ear Olsztyn); Koszalin? Wroclaw-
Chorzow
Export of Fish
14. Fish alloted to the State Reserve usually were earmarked for export.
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tor, the office was required to pay rent for storage space used.
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.25X1 in
25X1 April 1952, Commun.s Party- ea quarters eq e8
to accompany a rail shipment of fish over the border.
25X1 After the men were chosen they were oroug y
investigated as to political reliability and were required to have
a knowledge of refrigeration methods despite the fact the fish
were to be shipped in cracked ice.
Retail Outlets
15. The following were retail outlets of the provincial office which
acted as wholesaler or middleman-.
a. The Municipal Retail Trade Store (MieJski Handel Detaliczny -
MHD) which sold general supplies (groceries to furniture).
b, General Cooperative of Provisions (Powszechna Spoldzielnia
Spozywoow), the same type store as the MHD. In the General
Cooperative, however, one could buy membership. There was
talk that it would eventually be liquidated and that the Muni-
cipal Retail Trade Store would be the only type of large-scale
cooperative.
c. Central Farmers' Cooperative (Centrala Rolnicza) which con-
trolled retail selling in counties-;.and villages.
d. Gastronomic Institutions (Zakiady Gastronomiczne) which were
state-owned restaurants.
e. Railroad restaurants (restauracia kolejowa).
f. Factory casinos (stolowki).
g. UB (Security Police).
h. Army.
i. Hospitals.
J. Service to Poland (Sluzba Police - SP).
16. No more than 100 kg. per day were taken from the refrigerator by
the provincial office for fear the fish would spoil. These could
not be taken without approval from Warsaw, despite the fact that
the Warsaw office formulated the plans for sales, distribution,
25X1A and storage, Actually, spoiling was not a special or recurring
problem, The fish did not seem to s oil
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However, being held accountable for fish
which had spoiled appeared to be feared. The responsibility for
spoilage was not only assumed during transportation but was
assumed in turn by the provincial office, by the attendants at,
the state-owned refrigerators, and by the retailers. This re..
suited in careful estimates in requests for fish unless a quick
turnover in sales was assured. It appeared that one considered
it safer not to fulfill the assigned quota for sales than to be
proven guilty of spoilage. The provincial office offered a
guarantee of three days on the fish. After that time even if fish
were in retail inventory, the loss on spoilage was borne by
the retailers. It was, therefore, necessary for the retailer to
determine the actual freshness of the fish, particularly unpr-
cessed fish which rarely spoiled before three days. The loss on
smoked fish was usually borne by the provincial office since smoked
fish spoiled within two days if it spoiled at all.
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uotas
17. The monthly quota for the sale of fish was determined by the
Warsaw-offices This office decided upon the kind of fish to be
sold, the amount, and the price. The fact that the provincial
office may have'had a sufficient amount of fish on hand was not
taken into account. These plans were dispatched from the Warsaw
office at the beginning of each month. The plan listed the forth-
coming shipment, cod, flounder, herring salmon, eel, etc., with
specified amount, and stated further that the provisional office
was expected to dispose of a certain specified percent of the ship-
ment, or of the supply on hand in the state refrigerator, during
the month. This peril nt represented the monthly quota. The quota
was received by the planning department of the provisional office
and subsequently allocated to the various retailers within the
province. The retail outlets were expected to fulfill their quota
within the month.
18. No special premiums or bonuses were given in retail outlets for
fulfilling quotas. In the provincial office all employees, except
typists, were entitled to a premium (a certain percentage of the
salary of the employee based on the maintenance of the monthly
quota for sales). Specifically, if the plan was 98 to 100 %
fulfilled, employees of the provincial office collected 50% of
this base,:. pay. For each figure over 100, two per cent was added,
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25X1 the final figure not to exceed 64%. For fulfilling the quota
between 90 and 98%, employees collected 30% of the base pay. No
25X1 remiurns were given when the quota was be
25X1 that, on an average, two quarters o eae year did not see fu
meat beyond 80%. This could have been for various reasons. The
Warsaw office may have unloaded too much cod on the Polish market
and cod did not sell well. There were times, too, when fish did
not sell despite a continuing shortage of meat.
19. in addition to the monthly report on the sale of fish, the provinsales .performance
and for distribution of fish to retailers.
Accounting Department (Dzial Ksiegowosci . Besides keeping its own
recor sds,thiss department senperiodic reports to Warsaw on supply
and distribution. Included in the department were the inventory
and finance sections.
Transportation Section (Sekc4a Transportowa). In the Province of
Opole this section operated two heavy trucks which picked up fish
deliveries from the railroad station. Retail outlets made their
own pickups from the provincial office.
Administrative Department (seckja Administracyina) General office
wok was done in this department. A secretary was in charge of
incoming and outgoing mail.. all of which was classified. The Office
of Social Service, Supply, and Investments (Seckja'Socjalna, Zaupat-
rzenia, Inwestycja) was also within the department, Social service
activities of the office were concerned with pre-school children of
mothers employed in the company. Investments dealt with the repair
and maintenance of buildings.
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