Mosca minaccia Oslo sulla pesca di Barents

After European Union and Norway also Faroe Islands considering banning Russia firms from its waters (source: https://www.seafoodsource.com/news/supply-trade/faroe-islands-debating-whether-to-follow-norway-eu-in-banning-two-russian-fishing-firms-from-its-waters)

Generally there are increasing tensions between Moscow and Oslo about Svalbard archipelago

# The Russian foreign ministry summons Norway’s chargé d’affaires and falsely claims that new sanctions against Murmansk-based seafood companies constitute a violation of the Norwegian-Russian fishery agreement of 1976.

According to Moscow, the Norwegian sanctions against Russian seafood companies Norebo and Murmansk Seafood could jeopardise 50 years of bilateral fishery cooperation. 

Norway adopted the sanctions on July 7, about three weeks after [the restrictive measures were introduced by the EU.](https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/news/brussels-imposes-sanctions-on-murmansk-fishery-industry/430266)

On July 29, chargé d’affaires Ragnhild Johansen was summoned to the Stalin-era skyscraper that houses Sergei Lavrov’s foreign ministry.

“The Norwegian side was informed that these unfriendly measures constitute a gross violation of bilateral agreements in the field of fisheries,” a Russian statement reads.

The sanctions “undermine the long-standing effective system of management and regulation of joint fish stocks in the Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea,” the ministry explains.

The Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow. Photo: Thomas Nilsen

In a verbal cannonade, the representatives of war criminal Vladimir Putin told the Norwegian diplomat that “Oslo’s irresponsible actions threaten to undermine the entire complex of bilateral relations in the field of fisheries” and that the Nordic country must “faithfully fulfil its obligations to the Russian Federation under the 1976 fisheries agreement.”

Underneath is a clear threat.

“If Oslo is unwilling to return to compliance with the terms of the 1976 agreement, the Russian side will take the necessary measures to protect the interests of domestic fisheries.”

However, the warning from Moscow is based on false grounds.

The Norwegian-Russian fishery cooperation of 1976 says nothing about Russian fishing vessels’ right to make port calls in Norway.

In an [interview with the Barents Observer in 2024](https://www.thebarentsobserver.com/news/united-in-cod-oslo-and-moscow-safeguard-fishery-cooperation/421867), Norwegian expert Geir Hønneland underlined that “port calls are not a part of the fishery cooperation with Russia, it is quite another thing.”

According to Hønneland, a leading expert on the bilateral fishery cooperation, the Russian fishery industry actually has great interest in continuing cooperation with the Norwegians. The main reason is that a major part of the stocks are located on the Norwegian side of the maritime border.

A Russian pull-out of the Fishery Commission would ultimately force the Russian trawler fleet back into Russian waters, where fish stocks are far less rich.

Nevertheless, the Russians have over the past three years repeatedly threatened to abandon the Commission if the Norwegians decide to fully block Russian fishing vessels from Norwegian seaports.

I’m afraid we’re seeing the end of the good cooperation on fishing and maybe also SAR that we’ve had with Russia / USSR for decades.

But there’s a limit on what we can accept.