The State Duma deprived Britain of the right to fish in the Russian part of the Barents Sea

The State Duma passed a law denouncing the 1956 agreement that allowed British sailors to fish in the Russian part of the Barents Sea. According to Daily Mailin 2023, British fishermen caught more than 566 thousand tons of cod in the Barents Sea.

In the explanatory note to the law it saysthat in accordance with the UK’s decision to end the most favored nation regime in bilateral trade with Russia in March 2022, the denunciation of the agreement “will not cause serious foreign policy and economic consequences.”

As the Daily Mail notes, about 40% of the cod and haddock sold in the UK’s popular fish and chips dish are traditionally caught in the waters of the Barents Sea. Following the denunciation of the agreement, Russia will use warships to deter any British trawlers that fish in these waters.

In May 1956, the governments of the USSR and Great Britain signed an agreement in Moscow giving British fishing vessels the right to fish in the waters of the Barents Sea along the coast of the Kola Peninsula, as well as along the mainland east of Cape Kanin Nos and the coast of Kolguev Island. The agreement continued to operate after the collapse of the USSR, since Russia became its legal successor.

Anastasia Larina