Russia defends interests on fish catch in Norway's economic zone - Federal Fisheries Agency

MOSCOW. Dec 19 (Interfax) - Russia defended its interests regarding the fish catch in Norway's economic zone at the session of the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission (JNRFC), the Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo) said after the week and a half long session.

"Next year our fishers will be able to fish in both the Russian and Norwegian economic zones. We also agreed on other conditions of our joint work," Federal Fisheries Agency head Ilya Shestakov, who led the Russian delegation to the session, said in the press release.

"The Russian side insisted that issues that were previously ignored be reconsidered and they were reconsidered. This is related to the fact that the Norwegian side unilaterally imposed sanctions against two Russian companies and essentially 50% of our fishing fleet lost access to Norway's economic zone to catch cod and haddock. This served as a trigger for a review of other points of our agreement," Shestakov said.

He said Norway joined European Union sanctions imposed against Russian fishers over accusations of spying, but no proof was provided.

"The European Union in general does not like the fishing agreement between Russia and Norway, under which we effectively manage the joint stocks of cod and haddock in our economic zones for the two countries. The EU is always looking for an excuse to accuse us of something or ensure that agreements not be reached in the latest session. We made the right decision and did not go down the path onto which the EU pushed us, we defended the interests of the Russian Federation," Shestakov said.

The agency did not report on other results of the session, at which the countries also planned to discuss total allowable catches and distribute fishing quotas for cod and haddock in the Barents Sea.

The JNRFC was established in 1976 to ensure the sustainable use of marine biological resources. The countries annually set total allowable catches and fishing quotas for joint fish stocks, consider regulatory issues and share scientific information.