Norway's actions against Russian fishermen in Spitsbergen unlawful -Russian fishing authority

The Russian Fishing Committee believes that Norway has imposed unlawful restrictions on the presence of Russian fishermen near the Spitsbergen island, Interfax reports.

Norway   has   been  prohibiting  Russian  vessels  to  fish  near Spitsbergen,  which  is unlawful from the point of view of international law, Committee spokesman Alexander Savelyev told Interfax.

It  has  been  reported  that a Norwegian coast guard vessel made a vast area  near  the   Spitsbergen  island  off limit for Russian fishing boats, citing excess catches of small fish.

This  perennial  dispute has gone on for many years now because of failure to solve the fishing issues near Spitsbergen, while each country is guided  by  its  own  regulations, which are not identical, Savelyev said.

"This  is  why  Norwegian  coast  guards, guided by their Norwegian regulations,  either impose fishing restrictions on Russian fishermen or regularly  detain  our  vessels, escort them to their [Norwegian] ports, sue us, though eventually we win the cases," he said.

The  rescue  tugboat  Mikula  owned  by  a Murmansk-based control organization  called  Murmanrybvod,  is on its way to the area. On board the vessel  is  a  group  of Russian experts who will monitor compliance with fishing  regulations  in  the Spitsbergen area. Another such vessel will be dispatched later.

Source: Portnews