“The EU has allocated itself a quota of 28,431 tons of cod in the Svalbard Fisheries Protection Zone for 2021. This is a violation of Norway’s sovereign rights according to the UN Convention on Law of the Seas (UNCLOS) and we look gravely on the EU’s one-sided quota allocation. I have thus made it clear to the EU that any fisheries beyond quotas allocated by Norway will be considered illegal and thus enforced by the Coast Guard according to established routines”, says Norwegian Fisheries Minister Odd Emil Ingebrigtsen.

Ever since the zone was created, Norway has allocated quotas for third countries fishing in the area prior to the creation of the zone, so that they may continue their historic fisheries. These quotas have been based on fisheries in the decade prior to the creation of the zone.

As a consequence of Brexit, Great Britain’s traditional fisheries do not provide any foundation for EU quotas, and Great Britain’s historic fisheries were deducted when the EU quotas were calculated.

The Fisheries Protection Zone in Svalbard was established in 1977 and draws 200 nautical miles out from the Svalbard base line.