Snow crab.
Supreme Court rules Svalbard snow crab belongs to Norway
NORWAY
Friday, February 15, 2019, 23:50 (GMT + 9)
The Norwegian Supreme Court ruled that snow crab is a sedentary species and, consequently, that Norwegian authorities have exclusive rights to manage the crab stocks in the waters around the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard.
Building of the Supreme Court of Norway, in Oslo.
With this verdict, an appeal filed by the Latvian company SIA North Star Ltd. was rejected, after its ship Senator was arrested while fishing for snow crab in the protected area around Svalbard two years ago.
The vessel owners claimed they had a fishing license from the European Union (EU), but its validity was contested by Norwegian authorities.
Latvian trawler Senator moored in Båtsfjord, Norway. The vessel has not been to sea since it was arrested in 2017. (Photo: Atle Staalesen)
The East Finnmark District Court sentenced the captain and shipowners to pay fines of NOK 1.3 million (USD 150,250). The ruling was upheld by the Court of Appeals, after the owners of the vessel appealed the decision of the District Court.
The case triggered major interest in Norway, as it could potentially challenge Norwegian rights in the Svalbard waters. reported The Barents Oberver.
An FAO map showing the Svalbard economic zone (yellow), the "grey zone" and the international waters known as ‘the Loophole’ (orange) where the Latvian ship was operating.
The Norwegian government underlines that it has exclusive rights on the Svalbard shelf, but that position is disputed by other countries.
SIA North Star argues that Norway is bound by an international treaty of 1920 to allow access by other nations to the waters around Svalbard. That treaty grants sovereignty to Norway, but also rights to other signatories to participate in commercial activities in and around the archipelago.
Snow crabs have been at the centre of a dispute between Norway and the EU since they migrated to Svalbard in recent years.
Oslo says that the rights to exploit resources around Svalbard extend only to a narrow band of only 12 nautical miles offshore.
The Senator is one of 16 vessels from the EU that had permissions from Brussels to fish snow crab in the Barents Sea. However, it was made clear that those permissions do not apply in the Barents Sea.
More important than crab is perhaps the right to manage what is below and below the seabed: resources such as oil, gas and minerals.
"Other countries may see the snow crab question in light of oil and gas. There may thus be more tension and more intense conflict around Svalbard waters", law professor Geir Ulfstein told NRK last year.
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