South Korean fishermen could be barred from Russian waters next year after Seoul failed to come up with a plan to combat illegal fishing, the Federal Fisheries Agency said.
"Korea's request for quotas was not considered at the 22nd session of the Russian-Korean fisheries commission that concluded on Tuesday because the Korean side did not present an exhaustive mechanism for control over supplies of illegally caught seafood at the country's ports," the head of public relations at the Federal Fisheries Agency, Alexander Savelyev, said in comments on the agency's website.
He added that the ministry would be prepared to change its mind if the Korean delegation could come up with satisfactory anti-poaching measures.
Russia has exclusive rights to fishing and other commercial activity in the exclusive economic zone, which extends 200 nautical miles from the coastline. Licenses can be issued to other nations to work in the area.
An agreement to combat illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing has been in force between the two countries since 2011, but Moscow has complained that South Korean ports continue to receive vessels sailing under third country flags that land poached fish from Russian waters.
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