MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti) – A Russian fishing vessel has been detained by a Norwegian coast guard ship on suspicion of illegally dumping fish, the Russian Fisheries Agency said Monday.
The Novoazovsk trawler, which belongs to the Arkhangelsk Trawl Fleet company, was intercepted by the KV Nordkapp patrol boat while fishing in Norway’s exclusive economic zone.
“This is a routine practice for this region when the Norwegian side accuses Russian vessels of violating the country’s fishing rules,” said Sergei Gorbachev, a spokesman for the Russian Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo).
The official did not provide specific details of the arrest, but said that Norway had been frequently using the term “fish dumping” as a pretext for detaining Russian trawlers fishing off the Norwegian coast.
The Novoazovsk trawler is being escorted to the Norwegian port of Tromso for investigation, Gorbachev said.
“There were no incidents during the detention [of the Novoazovsk] similar to those that occurred during the detention of the Oleg Naidenov,” he added.
On January 4, Russia’s Oleg Naidenov trawler was boarded by the Senegalese military on suspicion of illegal fishing in Senegalese waters near the border with Guinea-Bissau. Three crewmembers were reportedly injured during the detention.
