Norway: Supreme Court decides on catch of snow crab on the Norwegian continental shelf

The Supreme Court of Norway has rejected the appeals of a Russian captain and a Latvian shipping company that was convicted in the Court of Appeal for having caught snow crab without a Norwegian permit. The catch took place in the fish protection zone at Svalbard, on the Norwegian continental shelf. The Supreme Court stated that the snow crab is a sedentary species within the meaning of the UNCLOS, which the coastal state of Norway, under international law, has the exclusive right to exploit. It also understood that the Svalbard Treaty does not prevent penalising the person who catches without permission and that this applies regardless of nationality. The verdict of 14 February 2019 (reference: HR-2019-282-S, case no. 18-064307STR-HRET) may be found here (in Norwegian); an English translation has also been made available here.