Does the government regret implementing the EU’s sanctions on the shipping companies?
“We are very clear that we are following the EU and the sanctions regime following the brutal war of aggression from Russia against Ukraine. We are clear on the fact that we are following the EU’s sanctions.”
Ilya Shestakov, Head of the Federal Agency for Fishery in Russia, said to the Russian state news agency TASS in August that the country would close its exclusive economic zone for Norwegian fishing vessels if the Norwegian side did not reconsider its position within a month.
“Furthermore, fisheries and the allocation of quotas in the open waters in the Barents and Norwegian Seas will be carried out on the basis of Russian national interests,” he added.
More demanding
What can you say about the quota situation in light of Russia’s threats?
“It is more demanding considering the quota reduction. There is also concern that if we cannot reach a fisheries agreement, the Russian side may choose to fish more in the Russian economic zone. This would result in Russia catching a bigger volume of small fish than fishing in the Norwegian economic zone, where the fish are bigger,” explains Næss.
She says there are many things to consider.
“Both short and long term, which means that we want to reach an agreement with Russia, which we have had for almost 50 years.”
What does the timeline toward a final agreement look like?
“We are working to find a date, so there is contact, but the date has not been set,” concludes Marianne Sivertsen Næss.