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Russia's Lavrov says concerned by detentions of fishery ships in Norway

In the latest instance that occurred September 28, the Norwegian coastal guard detained the Russian trawler Sapfir-2 for an overboard discharge of cod

MOSCOW, October 6 (Itar-Tass) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Stoere that Russian is concerned by the detentions of its fishery ships in Norway in the so-called fishery protection zone surrounding the Svalbard archipelago.

Russian Foreign Ministry sources said after Lavrov’s telephone conversation with Stoere there have been at least six cases of detention of Russian ships near Svalbard over the past three months.

In the latest instance that occurred September 28, the Norwegian coastal guard detained the Russian trawler Sapfir-2 for an overboard discharge of cod, saying this is forbidden by Norwegian laws. After that, the ship was towed to Tromse.

The Norwegians detain the Russian ships in the 200-miles zone around Svalbard, which Norway has unilaterally declared to be its national territory.

This move has allowed the Norwegians start applying their domestic laws to foreign fishery ships.

Lavrov urged Norway to show “a productive approach and to adopt the stance of collaboration, which imply the activation of mechanisms of the Russian-Norwegian Mixed Commission for Fisheries.

The ministers also discussed a number of other bilateral issues, including the forthcoming political contacts, cooperation in the energy sector and humanitarian dialogue, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said.