Norwegian vessel operators’ federation Fiskebåt is concerned that Russian vessels are fishing for small fish in the Russian zone of the Barents Sea – which would constitute a serious violation of the fisheries agreement between Norway and Russia.
In a letter to the Ministry of Fisheries, Fiskebåt has requested that the Norwegian authorities to contact their Russian colleagues to clarify measures to protect small fish in the Russian zone.
Since the mid-1980s, Norway has closed and opened fishing grounds in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea to protect juvenile fish. Norway has succeeded in getting Russia to adopt similar regulations in the Russian zone, and the parties have on repeated occasions emphasised the importance of closing fishing grounds where there is a high proportion of small fish.
This has been demonstrated by the protocol from last year’s quota negotiations between Norway and Russia, in which the parties emphasised the importance of the Fisheries Commission’s work to improve monitoring and control measures for fishing on shared fish stocks. It was pointed out clearly that this particularly applies to the agreement on the closure of areas with a high volumes of undersized fish.
The protocol puts the minimum size for cod at 44cm and 40cm for haddock.
In recent months, 10-15 Norwegian vessels have been fishing for haddock and cod in the Russian zone, where the proportion of haddock is traditionally higher than in the Norwegian zone.
‘At the same time, we receive reports from the longliners that they are also observing a lot of small fish in certain areas, and that Norwegian vessels are therefore staying away from these grounds. One of these areas is the north-east edge of Gåsbanken. The vessels report that there has been a large accumulation of Russian fishing vessels that have been fishing in these small fish areas. Fiskebåt believes that this gives cause for concern,’ said Fiskebåt deputy director Jan Ivar Maråk.
Fiskebåt points out in its letter that the Norwegian fisheries authorities occasionally close larger or smaller areas in the Barents Sea to fishing due to excessive mixing of undersized fish. This is a regulation that has the support of the Norwegian fishing industry.
‘At the same time, it is striking that the Russian fisheries authorities are apparently not following up on the agreement on the closure of fishing grounds with a lot of small fish in the Russian zone. Fiskebåt has previously asked for information about closed areas in the Russian zone, and has then been sent a list of areas that appear to be closed more or less permanently. According to information we have received, it is very rare that changes are made in the closed areas. The Russian zone is an important nursery area for cod and haddock, but to date we have not become aware that Russian fisheries authorities have closed areas in their zone to fishing due to too much undersized fish,’ Jan Ivar Maråk said, commenting that Fiskebåt has noticed with increasing concern that large parts of the Russian fishing fleet choose to concentrate their fishing effort in the Russian zone last autumn.