ABSTRACT
The Barents Sea and the Norwegian Sea are regarded as forming a single ecosystem, and this maritime area is biologically one of the most productive in the world. The average annual catch of the most important fisheries in this area has been 2.2 million tonnes for the last twenty years.1 Of the total Norwegian catch in 1978-85, 72 per cent was taken in this area, and fishing for the Barents Sea stocks is of vital importance to the northernmost regions of Norway. The USSR catch is about the same as the Norwegian in quantity, but this represents a smaller percentage of the total Soviet catch. (Further information about the fishery resources of the Barents Sea was given in Chapter 1.)
Traditionally, the rich fishing grounds in the Barents Sea have also been exploited by fishermen from other nations. In 1976, before the establishment of 200-mile zones, 20 per cent of the most important fish stock, the North-east Arctic cod, was caught by states other than Norway and the USSR. The most important of these other fishing nations were states from the European Community, especially the United Kingdom, the Faroe Islands and the Eastern European states, Poland and the German Democratic Republic.2
