Russian seafood is not subject to European Union sanctions, but some European countries, including the Netherlands, have banned Russian fishing vessels from accessing their ports due to concern they are engaged in espionage.
But Russia has allegedly been getting around these bans through the help of Norwegian carriers, according to Norwegian public broadcaster NRK.
The Russian cargo ship Belomorye was recently observed alongside Norwegian vessel Silver Copenhagen in an uninhabited fjord in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, with 2,000 metric tons (MT) of frozen fish from Russia transferred to the Norwegian reefer cargo ship.
NRK said the arrangement enables Russian fish to be delivered to Dutch ports without violating any restrictions or laws, albeit with a delay of several weeks.
Silver Copenhagen is owned by Bergen, Norway-headquartered Silver Sea, and the company’s general manager, Tormod Fossmark, said his staff check that Russian vessels don’t violate sanctioning rules when transporting goods.
Belomorye belongs to Russian fishing group Norebo, and in May this year, the vessel was refused access to the Dutch port of Eemshaven after an investigation by Pointer claimed there was evidence Russian fishing vessels were being used to spy on foreign ports. Norebo, which has the largest cod-fishing quota in the Barents Sea, has rejected the claims.
The Netherlands received more than 130,000 MT of Russian seafood in 2023 according to data from the Russian news agency Interfax. Russia also increased its total fish exports by 12 percent year over year, to 2.2 million MT, in 2023.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the E. U. has imposed heavy sanctions against the country. The current sanctions, however, exclude food supplies, but since 1 January 2024, fishery products originating in Russia no longer benefit from duty-free or most-favored nation treatment in the bloc.
