Russia May Ban Foreign Ships From Fishing In Its Waters
 

RUSSIAN FEDERATION

 

Fishing vessels built or modernized in foreign shipyards 
and uncleared by Russian customs authorities may be banned 
from fishing in Russia's waters, providing a potential 
boost for the domestic shipbuilding sector.

 

The fishing regulatory authority, Rosrybolovstvo, is 
preparing legislative amendments that could introduce the 
measure from 2019, newspaper Kommersant reported Friday, 
citing a copy of the plan.

The move comes at a low point in Russia's relations with 
its Western neighbors, which accuse the Kremlin of 
fomenting separatist violence in Ukraine.

According to the Audit Chamber, some 121 ships regularly 
net Russia's waters for fish. They are licensed to do this, 
but because they have not gone through customs clearing and 
paid the appropriate duty they do not dock at Russian 
ports. The cost of clearing customs for a vessel is 
estimated at RUB 1.2 to RUB 3.7 million.

These ships annually catch about 350,000 tons of fish — out 
of a total catch from Russian waters that on 2013 amounted 
to over 4 million tons.