Fishery cooperation
The Norwegian government and Minister of Fisheries and Ocean Policy, Bjørnar Skjæran (Labour), has been clear that it is important for Norway to protect fisheries cooperation in the Barents Sea.
“Ukraine is familiar with Norway’s position, including that the exemption for fishing vessels from the port ban is not about economics, but about fisheries management, says State Secretary Vidar Ulriksen (Labour) at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries to Børsen.
To High North News, Senior Researcher Andreas Østhagen has previously argued that the issues related to fisheries cooperation with Russia and long-term security policy challenges have been significantly under-communicated in the debate about port closures.
“If Norwegian authorities were to deny Russian vessels access to Norwegian ports, that does not mean that fisheries cooperation with Russia were to come to a halt immediately. The point is that it can lead to a series of repercussions which over time can jeopardize the cooperation on fish stock management“, Østhagen commented.
