Russian foreign ministry press department has issues a release which states that the situation will be thoroughly studied by taking into account all circumstances of the incident. They maintain a constructive dialogue with Norway in the field of fisheries. The incident happened on Sunday when Norwegian coast guards detained the Russian trawler Izumrud in a zone established by Norway near Spitzbergen. They claim the vessel had dumped fish.
According to the coast guards it is a serious environmental crime. They said that the incident had been recorded on a camera installed onboard the helicopter. It’s only after that the Norwegian inspectors landed on the trawler’s board. The coast guard has escorted the vessel to the Tromso port in Northern Norway. The local police will conduct an investigation.
Record shows that such incident used to happen. In 2004, Izumrud’s captain paid a fine worth 115,00 U.S. dollars for decreasing the volumes of fish catches in review data. Norway and Russia dispute authority over an area of prime fishing water around the Arctic Ocean archipelago of Svalbard, known as Spitzbergen by the Russians. In recent years Russian trawlers have clashed with the Norwegian navy, which accuses them of illegal fishing.
The head of Russia’s fisheries committee Andrei Krainiy told that they will have funds to charter two ships on Monday and send them out to protect our fishing trawlers near Spitzbergen. Krainy said the protection ships would operate all year round.
