State Policy of Labor Migration Regulation in the Volga-Caspian Fishing Region in the Second Half of the 18th to the First Half of the 19th Century

The article analyzes the state policy of regulating labor migration during the second half of the 18th to the first half of the 19th centuries. Changes in the settlement and development strategy of the Volga-Caspian fishing region are demonstrated through examples of population groups such as noble landowners, peasants, merchant-fishermen, and industrial workers. The achievements and shortcomings of state-regulated labor migration during the examined period are identified. The article also assesses the normative framework that governed the processes of labor migration in the region, outlines the historical stages of settlement and development in the area, and documents the outcomes and consequences of this process for the future socio-economic development of the Volga-Caspian fishing region. Labor migration is viewed as a tool for the settlement and development of the peripheral territories of the Russian state. Furthermore, various forms of migration were employed by the government during the study period, including noble, monastic, peasant, Cossack, and voluntary migrations. Based on an examination of the collected material, the authors conclude that migration types successfully implemented in other (agricultural) regions of the country, such as noble, peasant, and monastic migrations, were not as productive in the context of the Volga-Caspian fishing region, where the primary economic activity revolved around fishing. The most effective workers for the fishing industry were supplied by the so-called “voluntary migration.” Given that the subject of the study is the state policy of regulating labor migration, the primary sources encompass legislative and normative documents from the second half of the 18th to the beginning of the 19th centuries, as well as materials from central and regional administrative structures preserved in the archives of the Russian State Historical Archive and the State Archive of the Astrakhan Region. A portion of these materials is being introduced into academic discourse for the first time.