Russian trawler released – owner rejects accusations on poaching
The Russian trawler that was arrested by Norwegian authorities for poaching and dumping of fish near Svalbard last week has been released after the ship owner accepted the fines. The owner rejects the accusations and calls Norway’s actions in the Svalbard zone illegitimate.
The Murmansk based trawler “Viking” was arrested by Norwegian Coast Guard May 7 in the fisheries protection zone around Svalbard and escorted to Tromsø.
The Fisheries Protection Zone is a 200 nautical mile zone of fisheries jurisdiction around the Svalbard archipelago. It was established in 1977.
The vessel has now been released, after the captain accepted a 25 000 NOK fine and the ship owner – the Arkhangelsk company “Yagry” – signed a guarantee to pay 125 000 NOK in compensation. The trawler has already started fishing again, the Russian newspaper Rybatskaya Gazeta writes.
- We reject the Norwegian’s accusations about illegal fishing, Deputy General Director in “Yagry” Valery Poleshev says. - All the documents were in order at the time of the inspection, and if it hadn’t been that they discovered a large shoal of fish in the last minute, this would also had been reported in the documents.
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Poleshev says that his company regards the actions of the Norwegian fishery inspectors as illegitimate, as Russia does not acknowledge Norway’s rules for fishing in these areas. – Our state should be more active in securing Russian fishermen’s safety in the Svalbard zone, he states.
Norway exercises full and absolute sovereignty over Svalbard, in conformity with the provisions set out in the Treaty concerning Spitsbergen of 9 February 1920. As a coastal state Norway has the right under the modern law of the sea to establish a 200-mile economic zone around the archipelago and to exercise fisheries jurisdiction in the zone. There are different views on the geographical scope of the Treaty concerning Spitsbergen, and Norway chose in 1977 until further notice to establish a fisheries protection zone rather than a full economic zone. One of the purposes of the zone was to ensure the protection and sound management of the living resources, since this is one of the most important nursery areas for important fish stocks.
Read more about the fisheries protection zone around Svalbard on the Norwegian Government’s web pages.
