G.V. Stepakhno
Director General of Nonprofit Organization «Association of Northern Fishermen», Murmansk, Russia

The Barents and Norwegian Seas are important fishing areas where the fisheries interests of Russia, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, the EU, and Norway are closely intertwined.

The legal basis for cooperation between Russia and the above countries concerning different aspects of the fishing industry is represented by a number of international treaties and intergovernmental agreements. A coordinated management of joint commercial stocks essential for the development of economy in Northwestern Russia and Northeastern Norway is based on annual decisions of the Joint Russian-Norwegian Fisheries Commission established under the intergovernmental agreement on fisheries cooperation of 1975.

Long-term cooperation and joint work in international organizations (ICES, NEAFC, NAFO etc.) are an evidence of our partnership and good neighborly relations in the fisheries sector.

However, the recent developments in the fisheries policy indicate that Northeast Atlantic countries favour a weaker presence of the Russian fishing fleet in this marine area. The following challenges can be mentioned here:

Sharing of the allowable catch of the joint commercial stocks between countries fishing in the Barents and Norwegian Seas.

Introduction of uniform fisheries regulations and control over their observance covering the entire territory of the Barents and Norwegian Seas.

Pressing of the Russian fishing fleet out of the Spitsbergen fish protection zone and the so-called problem of V.Yarantsev, captain of the Russian trawler "Elektron".

Delimitation of the disputed area in the Barents Sea and a continuous strengthening of Norway's influence on the Spitsbergen shelf.

These challenges are expected to be the greatest ones if we take into account not only fisheries interests of nations harvesting the Northeast Atlantic stocks, but also the prospects of large-scale oil and gas development on the Arctic shelf.

FISHERY IN NORTH ATLANTIC: REALITY AND PROSPECTS