Unauthorized fishing settlements along the Caspian Sea coastline and the work of the Russian imperial bureaucracy to legalize them (last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries)

The article analyzes the process of development by the Russian central and provincial authorities of the policy towards unauthorized fishing settlements on the coast of the Caspian Sea and in the Volga River delta in the last third of the 19th - early 20th centuries. The history of unauthorized fishing settlements, the dynamics of their population, the social composition of the population are considered. The main attention is paid to the development by the ministries and the Astrakhan provincial authorities of options for legalizing unauthorized fishing settlements, their administrative, territorial and land structures, as well as the difficulties faced by the state in solving these issues, especially important for the development of fishing. Since unauthorized fishing villages were located on the lands of various owners and users, were under the jurisdiction of various state institutions, societies and individuals, and their inhabitants differed in class, it was extremely difficult to find a solution to all issues. As a result of a long process of discussion and development of projects, the existing fishing villages were legalized, and the state strengthened control over the process of unauthorized relocations, choosing the institution of rent as an instrument of influence on them. The administrative-territorial structure of the settlements was carried out according to the model adopted in peasant settlements, since most of their inhabitants were peasants or came from peasants. At the same time, the settlements received less land provision compared to peasant villages, which was due to the peculiarities of fishermen’s occupations.