Differing views on which treaty to follow for fishing in the Norwegian zone of the Skagerrak may lead to Swedish fishermen being taken to court in Norway.
Norway says it will require Swedish fishermen in those waters to follow Norwegian rules, including a discard ban and 120 millimetre minimum mesh size, while Sweden says that Swedish rules should be applied to Swedish fishermen there.
Sweden refers to the so-called Skagerrak Treaty of 1966, which is to expire in the summer of 2012, while Norway contends that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 overrules that treaty.
According to the Skagerrak Treaty, which also Norway has claimed up to now, Swedes fish under Swedish rules in Norwegian waters – as Norwegians fish in the Swedish zone under their national regulations.
EU vessels have access to some Norwegians waters, and vice versa, under an annual EU-Norway agreement, which was recently renewed, although no decision was made on this point.
Norway, which has had a ban of highgrading for several years, recently expanded a ban on all discards to all Norwegian waters. During its EU Presidency in 2009, Sweden worked for a 120 millimetre-mesh size rule but failed to push it through in the Council.
The Swedish Board of Fisheries now warns Swedish fishermen that the Norwegian Coast Guard may intervene in its zone in the Skagerrak and report them to Norwegian legal authorities to be tried under the Norwegian interpretation of the law.