The amount of reported violations is about the same as last year. However, the violations have been more severe than last year. The Norwegian Coast Guard has arrested boats fishing in restricted areas, and there have been three serious cases of fish dumping.
So far this year 17 foreign vessels have been arrested, which is the same amount as the Coast Guard arrested during the entire 2008. 11 of these vessels were Russian. The most serious case was a Portuguese vessel which had neglected to report about 162 tons of Cod. The boat was given a fine of almost 500.000 EUR. This is not a unique case. Over the last years Portuguese and Spanish vessels have committed severe cases of neglecting to report catches, according to Norwegian newspaper Avisa Nordland.
15 Norwegian ships have also been given a fine for violating the regulations, but none of these vessels have performed any severe violations.
