Russia confirms signing agreement with Ukraine on fishing in the Sea of Azov
The Russian State Agency of Fisheries of Ukraine reported that Russia signed the Russian-Ukrainian commission agreement on fisheries in the Sea of Azov and the coordination of catch limits.
"The 30th Russian-Ukrainian commission session agreement on fisheries in the Sea of Azov was signed in February this year. The agreements were reached in the interests of both states," said the report.
As noted in the press release, the commission determined the limits on catching of aquatic bioresources for both countries: the hamsi (Black Sea anchovy) in the amount of 50 thousand tons, the sprat - 60 thousand tons, the gobies - 15 thousand tons, the herring of the Black Sea-Azov passage - 320 tons, the Far-Eastern mullet haarder - 520 tons, the taran - 550 tons. Other species are caught in much smaller quantities. The agreement notes that once 95% of the total limit has been reached, both parties must stop fishing.
The agreement also retained the subject on the detained fishermen transfer during the arrest of the vessel, which was included in the previous sessions’ documents. It stipulates the transfer of the detained vessel to the homeport. "We consider the fulfillment of this paragraph of the protocol to be one of the most important obligations of the parties," said the department.
Earlier, chairman of the State Fisheries Agency of Ukraine, Yaroslav Belov, announced that Kyiv has signed the agreement on the distribution of fishing quotas in the Sea of Azov and sent it to the Russian side. A representative of the Ukrainian office noted that the protocol was signed through diplomatic channels.
The meeting of the Commission on fisheries in the Sea of Azov with the participation of Russian and Ukrainian representatives was held on October 24, 2018, in Kyiv. The Verkhovna Rada deputy, Refat Chubarov, who was present at the meeting, disrupted the meeting and called the security officials, arguing that the Russian side representative, Igor Rulev, had visited the Crimea in violation of Ukrainian legislation. Due to this, the document was not signed. In December 2018, the Azov-Black Sea Territorial Administration of the State Fisheries Agency announced that the agreement between Russia and Ukraine regulating fishing in the Sea of Azov for 2019 would be signed through the diplomatic channels of the Foreign Ministries of Ukraine and Russia.