Fishing vessels are designated for capture, transportation and, sometimes, processing of fish and other marine animals and plants. The fishing fleet comprises fishing (trawlers, drifters, seine vessels), whale-catcher (in the majority of countries, the whale fishing is under ban now), seal-hunting (to hunt marine animals – seals, walruses, eared seals, and so on) vessels, crabbers and floating fish canneries.

Design and construction features of fishing vessels are defined by their operation conditions. Due to frequent lashings, cross bulkheads are subject to extreme pressures, so they are strengthened with additional horizontal stiffeners, filling frames and beams. Then, special bows are used in hull shape design.

The development of the fishing fleet of Russia retrofits available vessels. Besides, under the auspices of the Federal Agency for Fishery, the support programme for the fishing fleet has been adopted. The programme comprises, for example, subsidy assistance in paying of 2/3 of interest rate of fishing vessel construction or retrofitting credit.