Svalbard fish patrol

The Russian trawler Kodrun, detained by the Norwegian Coast Guard.

Illegal fishing is a serious problem in some Arctic waters.  The World Wildlife Fund looks at the issue in this working paper: Illegal Fishing in Arctic Waters.  The paper focuses on cod in the Barents Sea, and on Alaska pollock in the Western Bering Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk.  

In the last week the Norwegian Coast Guard has detained two Russia fishing vessels in the vicinity of the Svalbard Islands for fishing violations: Russian trawler arrested in Spitsbergen waters; Norway arrested another Russian vessel (Svalbard and Spitzbergen refer to the same islands on the northern edge of the Barents Sea.  I've been using Svalbard in this blog and continue to do so here, but the Barents Observer refers to Spitsbergen).

The Kodrun had too many undersized fish; the Nikolay Afanasyev was detained on suspicion of failing to register catch, but released when "the issue had been 'sorted out with Norwegian authorities' "

Norwegian and Russian disputes over fishing violations, over Norwegian detentions of Russian fishing vessels, and over their respective rights in the waters around the Svalbard Islands are not new.  The following post follows developments this past Spring and Summer as they've been reported in the Barents Observer:

In March, Russia's top fisheries official said that Russia would actively protect its fishing vessels in the waters around Svalbard: Russia to protect its trawlers in Spitsbergen waters.

In April the Russians sent a naval vessel to Spitzbergen to enforce fishery regulations, on Norwegians as well as Russians: Russian patrol vessel sets off to Spitzbergen.  The Russians don't accept the 200 mile fisheries protection zone the Norwegians have established around the Svalbard Islands.  In late May, the Norwegians forced the Russian vessel to leave the Russian port of Barentsberg on Svalbard Island: Norway kicked Russian patrol vessels out of Spitzbergen.  The story says that the Russians were told to leave port by the Norwegians because they didn't have the necessary diplomatic permission to be there.  The Russians left, although they noted that this did not mean they accepted the validity of the Norwegian request.  Norway is sovereign in the islands under the 1925 Paris Treaty, but it is a qualified sovereignty since other countries have rights to carry out industrial activities there.  

Later in May, Russian fishing captains in Murmansk sent a letter to Putin "asking him to maintain regular monitoring of the Spitsbergen area. Not only to keep control of the area, but also to increase Russian authority around the archipelago...": Russian captains demand Russian presence.  The Norwegian Foreign Minster noted in early June that "reiterated the official Norwegian position on the area, arguing that international law gives Norway the full sovereignty over the waters..." and that "the Norwegian Coast Guard’s inspections in the waters around Spitsbergen are “legitimate, unbiased and just”...": Norway's control in Spitzbergen waters legitimate.

In July we find two large Russian Navy ships in the Islands.  The anti-submarine warfare ship Severomorsk and the guided missile cruiser Marshal Ustinov: Russia sends Navy vessels to Spitzbergen.   The Severomorsk later participated in a joint Russian-Norwegian-U.S. naval exercise: Russian-US-Norwegian naval exercise in Barents Sea.

In the next stories in the series, the Norwegian Coast Guard detains the Kodrun and Nikolay Afanasyev.  These stories are above.  Today, we have: Coast Guard not afraid of the Russian fleet:

Despite the presence of Northern Fleet vessels, the Norwegian Coast Guard continues to detain Russian trawlers suspected in illegal fishing in the waters around Spitsbergen. Meanwhile, Russian fishermen call for their Navy's intervention.

Only in the course of the last week, the Norwegian coast guard vessel “KV Svalbard” has detained two trawlers, one of them for the catch of under-size fish and the other for irregular catch registration.

The detentions have taken place amid the presence in the area of Russian Northern Fleet vessels. Russian Navy commander Vladimir Vysotskii in July this year announced that two Northern Fleet vessels, the “Severomorsk” and the “Marshal Ustinov” would be sent to Arctic waters, including the Spitsbergen zone, for the protection of national interests. The announcement came after demands from the federal Fishery Agency (Rosrybolovstvo).

None of the Navy vessels have however intervened in the Norwegian detention of Russian trawlers. According to Nezavisimaya Gazeta, Deputy Navy Commander Igor Dygalo confirms that military action in a situation with trawlers can only be made after the approval of the Foreign Ministry.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, however, has kept silent in the recent situations, Nezavisimaya Gazeta writes.

Norway in 1977 established a 200 mile fishery protection zone around the far northern archipelago, and now claims sovereignty over the waters. Russia, meanwhile, is strongly against the Norwegian claim, and disputes Norway’s right to control Russian trawlers operating in the area.

Comments

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They are and should be held to a higher standard, let that be a recreational boater and they will charge him/her with negligence and rightly so. Let them live by the same rules they enforce on everyone else,