Russian Navy

Norway Published Photo Of Russian Trawler Dropping Fish

10/04/2011

Text: RIA Novosti
Photo: Norwegian Coast Guard Ship Nordkapp which detained Russian trawler Sapfir-2. wikipedia.org

On Oct 3 Norwegian Coast Guard published photos showing Russian trawler Sapfir-2 dropped fish overboard; that was the ground for the ship's arrest, reports Norwegian TV-2 channel.

On Sept 28 Norwegian Coast Guard detained Russian trawler Sapfir-2 (registered in port Murmansk, operated by Arkhangelsk fishing company) in neutral waters off Spitsbergen archipelago, Barents Sea and towed the ship to Tromso for inquiries. Coast Guard officers explained to shipmaster of Sapfir-2 Vladimir Pisarenko that video cameras "had recorded one or two fishes fallen from the ship's fish-canning factory" which is prohibited by Norwegian laws.

Pisarenko refused to cooperate with frontiersmen, so inspectors had to switch off trawler's radio and tow the ship to Tromso port with dead engine. The shipmaster calls the trawler detention a "pirate capture"; the ship-owning company is going to sue.

On Oct 3 Norwegian Coast Guard promulgated videos and photos; fish dropped from the ship's conveyor was clearly seen on them.

Inspector Morten Jorgensen told in the interview to TV-2 channel that the coast guard ship had been following Sapfir-2 for an hour and managed to record video.

According to Jorgensen, they have enough video evidence which has been already handed over to police to be used for investigations.

Occasions when such evidentiary material is gathered are very few, Jorgensen added.

Shipmaster of Sapfir-2 Vladimir Pisarenko told on Oct 3 in the interview to RIA Novosti that he did not accord with charges, and even if some fish really fell into the sea with offals, that was a part of technological process.

"It's a fish processing. Single cods may fall on conveyor and be dropped in the sea. There's no intent", said Pisarenko. He called the ships' arrest a "pirate capture".

Pisarenko testified at Norwegian police on Oct 3 and repelled all accusations.

Taking into account that Russian media heavily criticized actions of Norwegian Coast Guard and refuting charges of "piracy and hijacking", Jorgensen said inspectors had acted politely and according to rules.

As for him, Norwegian Coast Guard treats all vessels in the same way regardless of their state affiliation.

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