In a meeting with journalists in Kirkenes, Norway, today, he also reiterated the official Norwegian position on the area, arguing that international law gives Norway the full sovereignty over the waters. Russia and a number of other countries however continue to dispute the Norwegian view. Russian fishery interests have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the Norwegian Coast Guards fishery inspections around Spitsbergen. Also Russian authorities regularly express scepticism with the Norwegian control regime in the area. In a press conference in Kirkenes, Sergey Lavrov said he would like a stop in Norwegian detentions of Russian trawlers, arguing that the Norwegian Coast Guard on several recent occasions have detained ships which have done no illegal fishing. There will always be people who are critical towards strict fishery controls, Minister Støre said the same day to journalists. The Norwegian foreign minister did however give credits to Russian authorities for taking measures to stagger illegal overfishing in the Barents Sea. The extensive fishing in the area still remains a major problem however with up to 25 percent of all cod caught illegal in the area Foreign ministers Støre and Lavrov today started their two-day bilateral meeting, which starts in Kirkenes and ends in Murmansk. Photo: Barentsphoto.com
