A Coast Guard spokesman said the Russian vessel failed to notify Norwegian authorities that it was beginning a fishing operation and about the transfer of its catch in the country's economic zone.
The trawler, with 1.5 metric tons of fish on board, has been escorted to the nearby Norwegian port of Bodo for further investigation, the official said.
The incident coincides with a Russian court ruling Thursday in a case that involved another Russian trawler, the Elektron, which Norwegian Coast Guard ships pursued across the Barents Sea for five days in October 2005.
The vessel refused to follow Norwegian orders to go to a port to be checked for alleged fishing violations October 15, and fled to Russian waters with two Norwegian inspectors onboard.
The captain of the Elektron, Valery Yarantsev, was acquitted of illegally holding people, but was fined $3,900 for poaching and barred from commanding a fishing vessel for two years.
Under a 1920 agreement signed by 48 countries, including Russia and Norway, all signatories have equal fishing rights near the Spitsbergen Archipelago, but the Scandinavian country has been allegedly seeking exclusive rights to the area since 1977.