MOSCOW, October 24 (RIA Novosti) - Norway's acting charge d'affaires in Russia was summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry Monday after Norwegian authorities detained two Russian fishing boats in the Barents Sea.
"The ministry demanded complete information and explanations on the incident," ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said.
The Dmitry Pokramovich and Kapitan Gorbachev ships owned respectively by the Arkhangelsk trawl fleet and the Murmansk fishing fleet were detained after the Russian sailors failed to notify Norway about their plans to enter the Medvezhy Island 12-mile zone, a process Norway requires for venturing into the zone's waters.
The spokesman said this kind of action spoiled the "healthy climate" in bilateral relations and that the problem proved the necessity of dialogue on the operation of Russian fishing boats in the region in question to be addressed by a joint fishing commission session being held in Kaliningrad.
Kamynin said Russia had always disagreed with the regulations Norwegian authorities set unilaterally for the zone.
This comes on the heels of a similar incident involving a Russian trawler, detained in the Barents Sea October 15 after two Norwegian inspectors boarded the ship, accused of violating fishing rights. The trawler then fled with the inspectors still aboard to avoid arrest. An agreement was reached between Russia and Norway to allow the trawler to be convoyed to the Russian port of Murmansk.
