On the war eve, Leningrad has got the significant potential for industrial fishing which could cover about half of the city's demand for fish. At the same time, the Soviet government did not consider inland waters of the Leningrad region as its priority for industrial fishing. For this reason, the city did not get proper support from Moscow. A bulk of foodstuff including fish was transported to Leningrad. During the war, the situation has radically changed. First, some territories of the Leningrad region including inland waters were occupied by the German and Finnish troops. Second, many fishermen and fishing boats were mobilized for the army. Third, remaining fishermen ought to work in conditions where security interests prevailed over economic ones. Many waters were closed for fishing including the Neva river, most parts of the Gulf of Finland, and Ladoga lake. Deportation of the fishermen of Finnish descent from the Leningrad region also contributed to the substantial decline in fishing in the Gulf of Finland. In 1942 alone losses over there were about 1,000 tons of fish. In general, the fishing in the besieged city was a complicated issue of bargaining and negotiations between the military and civil authorities. At the end of the day, at the grass-roots level, the military prevailed. The city's demand for fish was, by and large, covered by shipment from other regions of the Soviet Union. In 1943-1944, Smolny made a series of the important decisions that allowed in part to restore the industrial base of fishing in the Leningrad region.