Tag Archives: Russia

The real Sea Wolf: Captain Alexander MacLean (Part 1)

Many people are aware that Jack London spent time in Korea as a war correspondent during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05).,, But London has another connection (although tenuous) to Korea through one of his greatest fictional antagonists ― Wolf Larsen. Larsen may have been fictional but he was based on one of London’s acquaintances ― Captain Alexander MacLean. In the 1890s, Nova Scotian-born Alexander MacLean was a well-known name in the regions surrounding the northern Pacific Ocean. Standing 175 centimeters tall and weighing about 86 kilograms, he stood out among his peers, not so much because of his physical size or his blue eyes, or even his 45-centimeter-long moustache (he kept the tips tied together behind his head), but because of his personality and exploits. >click to read<  15:21

The real Sea Wolf: Russians try to tame ‘Sea Wolf’ Captain Alexander MacLean (Part 2)>click to read<

Pompeo calls out Canada, China, Russia over Arctic policy. China entitled to ‘exactly nothing.’

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stunned onlookers Monday by taking swipes at Canada, China and Russia in a speech to delegates attending the Arctic Council ministerial. Pompeo, along with foreign ministers from the seven other Arctic nations — Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Russia — is in Rovaniemi, Finland this week for the eleventh Arctic Council ministerial meeting. Pompeo used his speech to call out countries he accused of making illegitimate claims to Arctic territory, citing Canada’s claim to the Northwest Passage as internal waters. The U.S. considers the Northwest Passage to be international waters. >click to read<09:57

US climate objections sink Arctic Council accord in Finlandclick to read<10:39

International team of salmon scientists back in port, raring for another mission

The organizer of a month-long Gulf of Alaska salmon survey is already thinking about how to raise money for another trip in the winter of 2020, now that the Russian trawler used in the expedition has finished its job and tied up in Nanaimo. “From what I’ve seen, this needs to be done again,” said Richard Beamish, who came up with the idea of the expedition to mark the International Year of the Salmon with the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission. Future surveys would build on data collected by the 21-member volunteer team of international scientists from the five salmon-producing Pacific Rim countries: Canada, Russia, the U.S., Korea and Japan. >click to read<11:52

B.C.-led international expedition to probe ailing Pacific salmon stocks

An unprecedented international collaboration could revolutionize salmon science and fisheries management, return forecasting and even hatchery output. Nineteen scientists from Russia, Canada, the United States, Japan and South Korea are set to probe the secret lives of five Pacific salmon species with a four-week grid search and test fishery across the Gulf of Alaska. The expedition begins next week aboard the Russian research ship MV Professor Kaganovsky. “We know virtually nothing about what happens to salmon once they leave near-shore waters in the Salish Sea,” said expedition organizer Dick Beamish. >click to read<13:56

Russia to auction half of crab fishing quotas

Russia will e-auction 50% of the crab fishing quotas for 2018-2019 to create conditions for the entry of new players into the sector, Vedomosti daily said on August 24 citing an official government decree. The world famous Kamchatka red crab is Russia’s “other caviar” and fetches high prices in export as well as being highly valued by the Russians themselves as a favourite delicacy. Russian fishing business has been attracting investors’ attention as fishing is one of the fastest growing Russian agricultural segments and several heavyweight Russian tycoons have been investing into the industry. >click to read<15:03

Ukraine and Russia Face Off Over Fishing Boat

On Sunday, Ukrainian border forces detained the Russian-flagged, Crimean-registered fishing vessel Nord in the Sea of Azov, along with her crew of 10 fishermen. The Ukrainian authorities charge that the Nord illegally crossed Ukraine’s maritime borders. In response to the arrest, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said Wednesday that Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service had “hijacked” the Nord. The shipowner, a collective named “First of May,” has appealed directly to the Russian Foreign Ministry for diplomatic intervention. >click to read<15:37

Coast Guard: Russia and U.S. Working Well Together in the Bering Sea, Arctic

Unlike other parts of the world, the U.S. and Russia work well together in the Bering Sea and the Arctic. The pair is enforcing fishing regulations and other laws, conducting search and rescue operations. Moscow and Washington are sending the International Maritime Organization a joint recommendation for safe shipping routes through northern waters, the head of the U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska said on Wednesday. “We see the relationship with Russia [in the Arctic] as a bright spot,” said Rear Adm. Michael McAllister,,, click here to read the story 16:10

U.S. Coast Guard Unveils a New Model for Cooperation Atop the World

The United States Coast Guard announced Friday the creation of a new international forum for cooperation in the Arctic. Signed at the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut, the new Arctic Coast Guard Forum will include coast guards or similar agencies from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Russia and the United States. “Today’s historic Arctic Coast Guard Forum represents a critical step forward in our collective efforts to promote safety, security and environmentally responsible maritime activity in the Arctic,” said Coast Guard Commandant Admiral Paul Zukunft. Read the rest here 10:50

US and Russia will sign a bilateral deal next week aimed at fighting illegal fishing.

The United States and Russia will sign a bilateral deal next week aimed at fighting illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for Oceans and Fisheries Ambassador David Balton told Sputnik on Monday. “Next week in Portland, Oregon delegations to the United States and Russia will get together for our annual meeting on fisheries and we will be signing a bilateral agreement to combat IUU fishing,” Balton added that the cooperation between the United States and Russia in the Arctic remains “good and strong” despite the current tensions in the relations between the two countries. Read the rest here 17:34

Russia re-submits claim on vast Arctic seabed at UN

Russia has submitted its bid for vast territories in the Arctic to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said in a statement that Russia is claiming 1.2 million square kilometres of Arctic sea shelf extending more than 350 nautical miles or about 650 kilometres from the shore. Russia was the first to submit its claim in 2002, but the UN sent it back for lack of evidence. In 2007, Moscow staked a symbolic claim to the Arctic seabed by dropping a canister containing the Russian flag on the ocean floor from a submarine at the North Pole. Read the rest here 13:42

Canada appears poised to sign international Arctic fish deal

“We can confirm that we are planning to attend a meeting in Norway with other coastal states to discuss further measures against unregulated high-seas fishing in the central Arctic Ocean,” Carole Saindon wrote in an email.”Details of the results of those discussions will be released at the conclusion of the meeting.”Canada, the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway reached an interim agreement in February 2014 to work toward protecting Arctic waters beyond the 200-kilometre territorial limit of their respective shores, an area the size of the Mediterranean Sea. Read the rest here 08:11

Iran to export 28,000 tonnes of fishery products to Russia.

An official at Iran Fisheries Organization says the country will soon export about 28,000 tonnes of various kinds of fishery products to its northern neighbor, Russia. Isa Golshahi, Iran Fisheries Organization’s director general for quality improvement, processing and development of fisheries market, told Mehr news agency on Sunday that according to contracts signed between the two countries, Iran will start exporting fishery products to Russia in late August. Read the rest here 17:35

Russia furthers Arctic dreams while America sleeps

John Kerry MunsterMurkowski’s starting point in her presentation was that the United States should have prepared for assuming the chairmanship of the Arctic Council but did not. The United States took over the two-year position from Canada last Friday. Obama and, I imagine, his predecessors would never admit any such failure. Why, last Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Arctic Council’s new chairman, stated the president’s Arctic policy. It is coping with climate change, period. Read the rest here 13:35

The Future of Fishing in the Central Arctic

 Increasingly, it’s the future of fisheries that is taking center stage in the geopolitical discussions that come with planning for the future Arctic. This was made evident on January 15 and 16, 2015, when 40 Arctic experts from the United States, Canada, Russia, China, Iceland, Denmark, and Greenland travelled to Tongji University in Shanghai to attend the first “Roundtable on Central Arctic Ocean Fisheries Issues.” Read the rest here 18:21

European Commission proposes fishing opportunities in the Atlantic and North Sea for 2015

The European Commission has today proposed fishing opportunities for 2015 for the Atlantic and the North Sea. This is the annual proposal for the amount of fish which can be caught by EU fishermen from the main commercial fish stocks next year and it is for the first time based on the new Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). Read the rest here 11:31

Canada is ready to create a joint venture with Russian companies on the catch of king crab in the Barents sea

Representatives of the fishing industry Canada is ready to create a joint venture on extraction of snow crab in the Barents sea. In addition, canadian business intends to discuss unclaimed quotas for the catch of fish and other seafood in the North Atlantic. Canada is ready to increase export of shrimp is the main part of canadian exports of fish industry in Russia. Read more here  12:53

Alaska’s Arctic Policy Commission tackles questions about the state’s role in a changing region

alaska dispatchAlaska’s Arctic Policy commissioners were advised to pay attention not only to the happenings in their state’s Arctic waters but around the world as they convened in Anchorage last week to work through the commission’s recommendations to the state and the nation. Read more here  14:53

Canada agrees to work to prevent fishing in High Arctic until there’s more study

Canada and four other Arctic nations have agreed to work toward a deal to block commercial fishing in the central Arctic Ocean until more is known about the potential of the resource. The agreement with the United States, Russia, Denmark and Norway was reached late Wednesday in Nuuk, Greenland, after three days of talks Read more here  18:56

Arctic Commercial Fishing Deal Would Set a Precedent

World Politics Review – Later this month, representatives from Russia, Norway, Denmark, Canada and the United States will meet in Washington to discuss a possible accord that would regulate commercial fishing near the North Pole. continued