In Sep­tem­ber, a Nor­we­gi­an coast­guard ship brought a Ger­man traw­ler up near Hopen. The fishing ship had too much had­dock in its car­go. The fishing com­pa­ny got a fine of 55000 NOK (ca. 7500 Euro), but did not accept the fine.

The point is not the eco­no­mic­al­ly irrele­vant fine, but the prin­ci­pal ques­ti­on of the fishery zone around Spits­ber­gen: is the Spits­ber­gen Trea­ty valid in the 200 mile zone, which other­wi­se gives exclu­si­ve eco­no­mic­al rights to the sove­reign sta­te? The Nor­we­gi­an ans­wer is a clear no: accor­ding to Nor­we­gi­an aut­ho­ri­ties, the Trea­ty, which gives all signa­to­ry count­ries and their citi­zens equal rights of access and eco­no­mic use of natu­ral resour­ces, is valid only within the 12 mile zone. Accor­ding to this view­point, Nor­way has exclu­si­ve rights within the 200 mile zone, out­side the 12 mile zone. Most count­ries do, howe­ver, agree, that the Spits­ber­gen Trea­ty, which is still valid, does not give Nor­way exclu­si­ve rights to any mari­ti­me area. The clear pur­po­se of the Trea­ty, signed in 1920, was to give all signa­to­ries equal access under Nor­we­gi­an admi­nis­tra­ti­on. The Ger­man ship owner, “Deut­sche Fische­rei­uni­on”, is now pre­pared to take this ques­ti­on of prin­ci­pal importance to Nor­we­gi­an courts.

Source: Sval­bard­pos­ten (4412)