Norway blasts EU fishing off Svalbard
February 16, 2021
Norway launched an unusually strong protest against the EU on Tuesday, calling its decision to grant fishing rights in a protected zone off Svalbard “completely unacceptable.” Norway has long claimed sovereign rights to the seas and sea floor around Svalbard as an extention of its internationally accepted authority over the Arctic archipelago.
Norway claims sovereign rights to fishing and the issuance of quotas in the waters off Svalbard. PHOTO: Arctic Council Secretariat/Kristina Baer
“Norway is protesting the EU’s one-sided licensing of fishing quotas in the protected fishing zone around Svalbard,” declared Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen Tuesday afternoon. “This is completely unacceptable behaviour on the part of the EU. Norway has sole rights to regulate fishing in the zone around Svalbard, and only Norway can issue EU fishing quotas in the area.”