In the post-war years, the Far East region and Kamchatka began to develop actively even despite the difficult climatic conditions. The fishing and mining industries grew especially actively, because natural resources seemed to be inexhaustible. With the fantastic growth of industry, new workers' settlements and entire cities began to appear on the map of the Soviet Union, which by the end of the 1950s-1970s became... no one needed. So what could happen that in an instant about 50 settlements were empty, and the people who had come from all over the country abandoned their homes?
1. How a great empire lost its influence
The end of the Second World War brought some countries liberation and an incentive to rebuild, but others - it was necessary to change not only the state structure, but also to find new sources of survival. Japan, just, turned out to be the state when the surrender brought a lot of problems, starting with a crisis of power, tremendous losses territory, resource base, and ending with vital problems, the main of which was the provision of food for their citizens.
Help from Novate.ru: After the defeat in World War II, Japan, one of the most aggressive states in the world, lost a significant part of its territory. Of the 685 thousand sq. km, today the country occupies about 378 thousand sq. sq. km. By several international treaties, it was limited to only the four main islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku, Tsushima, and about 1,000 people. small islands. After the occupation, the country lost the Kuril Islands (previously transferred by Alexander II to Japan), the southern half of Sakhalin (the northern part already belonged to the USSR), Korea, Taiwan, all their colonies and islands in Oceania. In addition, the state lost its undeniable influence on the mainland, especially in Manchuria and China, which adversely affected the economy and the near future of the country.
And if we add to this the ban on fishing in the North American Pacific Ocean and 12 mile limit of the Soviet Union near the former territories, it can be said that the country was simply waiting hunger. Considering that Japan has a small part of the land with a difficult terrain, it is not possible to provide the inhabitants of the country with animal meat. seems possible, so the loss of fishing territory was one of the most tangible blows for the Japanese.
2. The rapid development of the Far East region of the Soviet Union
Even in the pre-war period, the fishing industry in Kamchatka developed quite actively, although it could not compete with the most powerful fishing empire of Japan. Nevertheless, the workers' settlements grew and not only the local population was engaged in fishing, but fishing was put on stream. By the early 1930s, on a peninsula washed by the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea, as well as the Pacific Ocean, there were 16 canning factories, which, in total, launched 52 production lines.
The Second World War and the surrender of Japan made positive adjustments that led to a powerful a jump in the growth of productive capacities and an increase in the population due to settlers. Considering that the USSR received strategically important (for fishing) territories, large-scale construction of fish processing plants began in the region. factories and combines, while settlements with the appropriate infrastructure were upset in order to lure migrants with families, and not just seasonal workers.
Literally 10 years after the end of the war, only in Kamchatka, 40 fish processing plants and 45 canning factories started operating at full capacity. In the rest of the territory, there were about 60 fish factories, a significant part of which were production facilities confiscated from the Japanese. In the middle of the last century, fishing collective farms thundered throughout the country, because they achieved unprecedented results in terms of salmon and other varieties of fish. Unfortunately, the fishing industry's growth spurt was cut short by tricky games at the state level, exorbitant appetites and thoughtless management of all the same Japanese who were allowed to catch salmon from their shores.
3. Predatory attitude towards natural resources or "Drifter catastrophe"
Seafood and fish occupy the main stage in the diet of the Japanese, they especially appreciate the salmon family. At the same time, Japanese gourmets do not accept fish artificially grown on farms, so anglers have invented a lot of ways for large-scale catch in their natural habitat. One of the most effective, but at the same time the most barbaric way of fishing, are drift nets. Drift nets can reach a length of about 4 kilometers, while having a height of 3 to 15 m. These giant nets are suspended from floats and are able to drift, catching salmon (and everything that got in the way), which do not stay in flocks, but scattered.
These nets at one time help to collect a very large number of individuals, if prudently put them in the path of the fish, for example, to the spawning site. This is exactly what the Japanese did, who, although they were not allowed to come close to the mouth of the Kamchatka rivers, nevertheless managed to block their path so that the salmon could not swim further. In the end, about 300 ships and 8 floating bases were constantly “grazing” in the coastal waters of Kamchatka, which literally sifted through the sea, destroying all life.
Terrifying Consequences: Each drifter set up 300-350 nets per day (!), while they were distributed so tightly that it was almost impossible to escape or get out of them. After the passage of such networks in the depths of the sea, there is practically nothing left. And the worst thing is that large mammals and even birds die in such nets, entangled. But that's not all. Taking out the nets, from the caught fish, the Japanese chose only salmon, most often sockeye salmon, while the rest (also dead) were simply thrown into the sea. And this is up to 80% of the catch! It is worth noting that such a barbaric method of fishing deservedly received the name - "wall of death".
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By 1956, the Japanese were catching up to 280,000 fish annually. tons of various salmon, at times reducing the catch of Soviet fishermen, which gradually led to the decline of the fishing industry. And in 1958 the catch decreased 100 times compared to 1950, causing a collapse in the fishing industry in Kamchatka.
4. Disappearance of settlements from the map of the Soviet Union
Exorbitant appetites and currying favor of the Soviet government in front of the Japanese led to the fact that one after one began to close processing and canning factories, fishing boats became a joke and bases. And the people went to look for new jobs, changing their place of residence, which, in turn, led to the depopulation of settlements.
In a few years, 48 well-maintained settlements were completely empty in Kamchatka alone, among which there were even historical settlements and large settlements. And these are only those settlements that are inextricably linked with fishing, as it turned out, both the workers' settlements created near the mines and military bases remained abandoned.
In Kamchatka, you can observe another feature that you will not find anywhere else - these are the rusty facades of multi-storey residential buildings. And to find out why this happens, take a look at our review.
Source: https://novate.ru/blogs/100222/62106/