TOKYO: Japan and Russia have agreed that Japanese fishing boats can catch this year a total of 2,050 tons of salmon and trout coming from Russian rivers, Japan’s Fishery Agency said Friday.

The fishing quota for the fish in waters within the 200-nautical-mile zone around Japan is unchanged from the previous year.

Japan will pay 200 million to some 300 million yen in “fishery cooperation fees” to Russia, depending on the actual amount of its catches.

The Japanese and Russian governments held online negotiations on the matter for five days through Friday.

Under the agreement, this season’s salmon and trout fishing in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido is expected to begin on April 10 as usual.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, Japan needs Russia’s permission to catch fish coming from Russian rivers, even in Japanese waters.

Last year, the start of fishery talks between the two countries was significantly delayed, due to the deterioration of the bilateral relationship over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Salmon and trout fishing then began in May.

JIJI Press