Challenges and Successes in the Management of a Shared Fish Stock – The Case of the Russian–Norwegian Barents Sea Cod Fishery

Abstract

This article discusses the Russian–Norwegian fishery cooperation in the Barents Sea. The focus is on the common management of the shared cod resource, the Northeast Arctic cod stock. The article emphasizes the historical development of the cooperation in periods of changing political environment and different challenges for the common management agreement. The political changes define two distinct periods of bilateral cooperation and joint management. The first period is from 1975, when the Soviet Union and Norway established the Joint Soviet–Norwegian Fisheries Commission, to the end of the Soviet Union in 1991. The second period is from 1992 when the Russian Federation took over the obligations of fisheries cooperation with Norway from the Soviet Union. Although significant political, institutional and economic changes took place during these periods the biological facts remained, as the growth patterns and distribution of the exploited ecosystem did not change. The Russian exclusive economic zone (EEZ) is the main feeding area for juveniles and small cod, while the Norwegian EEZ includes spawning areas and the main feeding grounds for the mature and larger cod. The trust and cooperative spirit that developed through the Joint Fisheries Commission, both among researchers and managers of the two countries, has been crucial for the development of successful annual agreements and their outcomes. The Russian–Norwegian management of the Northeast Arctic cod stock has succeeded in protecting and maintaining the cod stock in the interest of both countries.