The red area in Moscow

MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia...

MOSCOW, December 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the United States have coordinated the bulk of documents paving the way for a new agreement on fishing in northern areas of the Bering Sea, a senior Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday. The new agreement is designed to compensate Russia for losses from fishing areas ceded to the United States in line with the so called Baker-Shevardnadze agreement on the delimitation of waters in the Bering and Chukchi Seas. Igor Neverov, Director of the ministry"s North American Department, said: "For several years Russia has held talks with the United States to sign a comprehensive fishing agreement in the northern part of the Bering Sea that would compensate Russian fishermen for losses from fishing in areas ceded to the United States. I can say that the bulk of the documents comprising the agreement have been so far coordinated." The diplomat said that Russia had not put forward the issue of ratifying the agreement, mainly due to inconsistencies over the economic losses suffered by Russia in the Bering Sea. He also said that the Russian government had repeatedly checked the agreement"s compliance with international maritime laws, Russian interests and an assessment of the potential consequences in case the agreement is not ratified. "The resulting conclusion was that the agreement does not contradict Russian interests, except for the loss of fishing rights in central areas of the Bering Sea," Neverov said. Meanwhile, Russia will invest up to 35 billion rubles ($1.43 billion) in projects to develop the coastal infrastructure for the fishing industry within the next three years, Andrei Krainy, head of the Federal Agency for Fishing, told a news conference in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea. He said large investment would be required following amendments to federal laws on fishing coming into effect on January 1, 2009. Under the amendments, foreigners will be banned from fishing within 200 miles from Russian coasts and will have to submit their catches to Russian customs inspectors. "The restrictions will be imposed because some Asia-Pacific countries have created an entire industry processing Russian fishing resources illegally. As a result, Russia has been losing huge amounts of fish," Krainy said. Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze and U.S. Secretary of State James Baker signed the agreement in Washington on June 1, 1990. The agreement was designed to clear differences in the understanding of the demarcation line set by the Russian-American convention of 1867 on the concession of Alaska. The U.S. received an additional sea area in 1977, during the demarcation of the Bering Sea fishing zone, and the Soviet Union had its fishing zone reduced as a result. Washington compensated Moscow for losses with annual fishing quotas up to 1981, when Soviet troops entered Afghanistan. The two powers started drafting a new agreement in 1981.

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