While Norwegian authorities hope that the historic delineation agreement will be ratified and come into effect within a year, the Russian fish industry believes another 10-15 years of negotiations are needed to settle all aspects of the agreement, Rossiiskaya Gazeta reports.
The historical agreement signed by Norway’s Jens Stoltenberg and Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev in April this year implies a sharing of the 175,000 square kilometer area in the Barents Sea into two equal parts. With the agreement in place, the socalled Grey Zone Agreement from 1978 is cancelled. That agreement regulated fishing in a big area stretching over both Norwegian and Russian waters and gave both countries’ fish industries access.
The Grey Zone Agreement was renewed annually and fishing in the area was regulated by both parts in the Joint Fishery Commission.
Representatives of the industry in Murmansk now express concern that Russian trawlers with the new agreement will be unable to operate in areas where they traditionally have been doing good catching. General Director of the Northern Union of Fish Industrialists, Vasily Nikitin, says to RG.ru that the new agreement must document not only the border line, but also the conditions for the fish industry.
Also Vyacheslav Zilanov, Vice President of the All-Russian Association of Fishing Companies, argues that Russia and Norway now need to agree on how to divide the area. -There are aspects about which we significantly disagree. However that does not mean that we are unable to agree about an important issue like the division of the Barents Sea, he says.
At the same time, he argues that the regulations which currently are being applied by the Norwegians in the area, and especially in the waters around the Svalbard archipelago, are discriminatory against the Russians.
The Russian fish industry interests are now submitting input to the authorities. According to Vadim Sokolov from the Murmansk regional Fishery Committee, proposals regarding the new agreement have already been submitted. He also says that the Federal Fishery Agency has established a working group with members from regional authorities, the fishing fleet and fisheries organizations, and that the recommendations from this group “must be an integral part of the agreement”.
Also on the Norwegian side, parts of the fish industry are skeptical towards the new Barents Sea deal. Leader of the Norwegian Association of Fishing Boat Owners, Audun Maråk, says to Fish.no that “Norway has little to celebrate” and that the Norwegian-Russian agreement favors the Russians.
