(Bloomberg) -- Russia and Norway approved terms for fishing in the Barents and Norwegian seas for 2025, indicating that the industry remains one of a few where a NATO member is still able to agree with President Vladimir Putin’s government since he sent troops to Ukraine.
Russia and Norway approved total quotas for cod, haddock and other types of fishing resources for 2025 during a session of the joint commission held via video conference, fishing authorities from the two countries said in separate statements.
“It is good that we have entered into a fisheries agreement with Russia, despite the fact that we are in an extraordinary situation this year as well,” Norway’s Fisheries Minister Marianne Sivertsen Naess said in a statement. “The agreement lays the foundation for long-term and sustainable ocean management.”
The quotas are distributed between Norway, Russia and third countries. For cod fishing it was set at 340,000 metric tons, a 25% reduction from this year and the lowest level since 1991, in order to try and halt a negative development in fish stocks, according to Norway.
The quota for haddock has been set at 130,000 tons and 19,000 tons for for Greenland halibut, while capelin fishing won’t be allowed.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, quotas were recommended by the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, but Russia has since withdrawn itself from the organization. Norway maintained the co-management of joint fish stocks with Russia and in 2023 struck the agreement for this year quotas.
Earlier this year, Russia ended a decades-old fisheries agreement with the UK as a response to sanctions.
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