Border Guard meeting
Cooperation between Norwegian and Russian border guards has reached a high level when it comes to joint protection of the bio resources in the Barents Sea and security on the border between Norway and Russia.
This was the conclusion at last week’s meeting between the commanding officers of the two countries’ Border Guard Services in the small Russian village of Borisoglebsk, B-port.com writes.
Head of FSBs Border Guard Directorate in Murmansk Oblast Lieutenant General Sergey Kudryashov and his Norwegian counterpart Commander of the National Joint Headquaters, General Bernt Brovold, meet three times per year.
The two officers and their delegations discussed issues like results of controls of fishing and transport vessels, exchange of fishery inspectors at sea and the possibility for Norwegian coast guard officers to have internships in Murmansk.
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The joint Norwegian-Russian control with the fisheries in the Barents Sea has made the cod stocks there amongst the most viable in the world. In course of the last five months, Norwegian coast guard vessels have inspected 478 fishing vessels, of which 204 were Russian. 85 vessels got warnings and six were arrested. The most common offences from the Russian side are fish dumping, fishing or reloading of fish without permission and use of illegal fishing gear.
On the other hand, two Norwegian fishing vessels have violated Russian laws by failing to report Russian authorities when entering Russian waters and neglecting to give daily reports about the catch.
