HELSINKI/MURMANSK, September 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's embassy to Norway said Wednesday a Russian fishing boat detained off the Arctic coast earlier this week will be released within the next few days.
The Norwegian coast guard seized the Perseus trawler on Sunday for alleged overfishing.
Embassy Counselor Yevgeny Kolesnikov told RIA Novosti by phone that all formal issues could be resolved on Wednesday, for the boat to set sail the next day.
Kolesnikov added that the embassy was in contact with the trawler's captain, who said the Norwegian authorities had accused the Perseus crew of catching pollock above the set quotas in January to April and were seeking to impose a fine of 3 million Norwegian kroner (about $460,000).
"The captain and the owner of the ship deny the accusations and are planning to appeal, but bail will probably have to be paid to secure the vessel's release," Kolesnikov said.
Gennady Stepakhno, the president of the Russian Fish Producers Guild, said earlier he was surprised the accusations had been made using the trawler's log recordings up to April. He said Norwegian coast guards had inspected the vessel several times since then, but had found no irregularities until this week.
