Two Spanish trawlers and their crew are being held in Norway after allegedly being illegally fishing in waters of the archipelago of Svalbard in the Artic last weekend.
The Norwegians claim that the Garoya Segundo and Monte Meixueiro started dumping tons of turbot after they were approached by Norwegian coast guards.
Spanish authorities are condemning illegal fishing but also reject Norway's attitude, claiming that the Northern country has no right to retain them as the waters around Svalbard are ruled under the Treaty of Paris of 1920. The treaty establishes that any country can report an illegal practice but it does not empower to arrest, inspect or fine the vessel.
According to the Spanish Minister of Fisheries Elena Espinosa, the only country authorised to take measures against the trawlers and their crews is the one whose flag is on board the vessels.
The Minister's claims are also back by the European Union who says that it is up to Spain to investigate and fine the vessels.
Meanwhile the Spanish shipowners admitted that the trawlers were illegally fishing turbot. The diplomat dispute between the two countries is already served, with Spain threatening to report the case to the International Tribunal in The Hague if the diplomatic talks do not move forward.
However the Spanish Ministry of Fisheries insists on the good relation that the country keeps with Norway and that the dispute is just a legal disagreement. Norwegian paper Aftenposten said that Norwegians authorities have arrested six non-Norwegian trawlers in the past month.
One of them, a Russian trawler who fled with two Norwegian inspectors on board. It also reported that Norway's coast guard wants to increase the number of patrol vessels that it has in the Barents Sea as part of the new crackdown on illegal fishing in the Artic.
