HARSTAD (Norway), November 10 (RIA Novosti) - Violations of fishing regulations in the Barents Sea should be handled carefully so as not to damage bilateral relations with Norway, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Wednesday. "Violators should be brought to justice and offenses should be investigated in a format that will not cause any tensions in our relations," Lavrov said after meeting with his Norwegian counterpart. In mid-October, a Russian trawler, the Elektron, was accused of violating Norwegian fishing regulations near the Spitsbergen archipelago and pursued by the Norwegian Coast Guard for five days across the Barents Sea.
In a separate incident later in the month, Norwegian authorities detained two Russian vessels on charges of unauthorized fish reloading in Norway's territorial waters. Both boats were released October 28 after posting bail.
Lavrov said the sides had discussed the situation in the Spitsbergen fishing zone, and stressed the need for stability in the current fishing regime.
The two ministers agreed that it was important to accelerate the delimitation of the maritime border in the Barents Sea.
Lavrov said that Moscow and Oslo were satisfied with the recent session of the Russian-Norwegian commission in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, and welcomed its decision to continue negotiations on the issue.
"I think they will work out a solution," Lavrov said.
