Snow Crab in the Barents Sea: Managing a Non-native Species in Disputed Waters

• Author: Tore Henriksen
• Position: Professor, Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea
• Pages: 95-119

© 2020 Tore Henriksen. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribu-

tion-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), allowing third parties

to share their work (copy, distribute, transmit) and to adapt it, under the condition that the authors are given credit, that

the work is not used for commercial purposes, and that in the event of reuse or distribution, the terms of this license are

made clear.

Citation: Tore Henriksen. “Snow Crab in the Barents Sea: Managing a Non-native Species in Disputed Waters” Arctic Review

on Law and Politics, Vol. 11, 2020, pp. 108–132. http://dx.doi.org/10.23865/arctic.v11.2545

Arctic Review on Law and Politics

Vol. 11, 2020, pp. 108–132

108

Peer-reviewed article

*Correspondence to: Tore Henriksen, email: jan.solski@uit.no

Snow Crab in the Barents Sea:

Managing a Non-native Species in

Disputed Waters

Tore Henriksen

Norwegian Centre for the Law of the Sea, Faculty of Law, UiT The Arctic University of

Norway

Abstract

The introduction of a new species to the Barents Sea raises questions as to the rights and duties of

states under the law of the sea to exploit, manage and conserve the species. This paper discusses

three of them. The rst question is whether the snow crab qualies as a sedentar y species. The

entitlements and competence of states in respect of living marine resources depend on the location

and the characteristics of the species. If it qualies as a sedentary species under the law of the sea,

it is subject to the sovereign rights of the coastal States. Otherwise, it is subject to the sovereign

right of the coastal States as well as the freedom of shing, dependent on its distribution. The

second question is what, if any, obligations Norway as a coastal State has in respect of conservation

and management of the snow crab and how Norway is complying with these obligations. This

includes a discussion of whether the snow crab qualies as an introduced, alien species and the

possible implications for the obligations of the coastal State. The area of distribution of the snow

crab includes waters within 200 nautical miles off Svalbard, raising a third question as to the impli-

cations of the 1920 Treaty concerning Spitsbergen (Svalbard Treaty) and in particular whether

shing vessels of Contracting parties have the right to participate in the harvest on an equal footing

with Norwegian vessels. The Norwegian Snow Crab Regulations effectively reserves the harvest of

snow crab for Norwegian shing vessels. The paper discusses the implications of a recent decision

by the Norwegian Supreme Court on dismissal of an appeal by a Latvian vessel and its captain

convicted for illegal harvest of snow crab within 200 nautical miles off Svalbard.

Keywords: law of the sea, international environmental law, snow crab, alien species,

Svalbard and Spitsbergen Treaty

Responsible Editor: Nigel Bankes, Faculty of Law, University of Calgary, Canada

Received: August 2020; Accepted: September 2020; Published: December 2020

AR_2545_V3.indd 108AR_2545_V3.indd 108 12/1/2020 11:17:39 AM12/1/2020 11:17:39 AM

Snow Crab in the Barents Sea

109

1 Introduction

This paper deals with questions regarding the rights and obligations of coastal States

in the conservation and management of a non-native species – the snow crab – in the

Barents Sea. More specically it discusses balancing the right to exploit snow crab

as an economic resource with the duty to prevent negative effects of the species on

the marine environment. An additional and complicating factor is that other States

are challenging the regulatory regime established by Norway and claiming the right

under the 1920 Svalbard Treaty to participate in the harvest of the species.

The snow crab (Chionoecetes opilio) is a relatively new arrival to the Barents Sea.

It was rst observed in 1996.1 Its natural habitat includes the northern region

of the Pacic Ocean, from the Bering Strait to the waters of British Columbia,

and from the northern part of the Sea of Japan to the Korea Strait.2 Most of the

snow crab stock in the Barents Sea is found on the seabed under the jurisdiction

of Russia, but it has gradually migrated into the seabed under Norwegian juris-

diction as far north as the waters east of Svalbard.3 Commercial harvest of the

species started in 2013. The potential value of the catch in Norwegian waters was

estimated around NOK 7.5 billion.4 Norwegian and Spanish shing vessels and

subsequently vessels agged in Russia, Latvia and Lithuania have all started sh-

ing snow crab.5 The harvest peaked in 2015 with catches totalling 18,000 tons,

down to an estimated 13,000 tons in 2019.6 Norway and Russia then agreed that

the snow crab is a sedentary species under the United Nations Convention on the

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and a natural resource of the continental shelf.7 Con-

sequently, the two coastal States enjoy sovereign rights to explore and exploit the

snow crab on their continental shelves.8 In 2010, the two coastal States had already

agreed upon a delimitation of their 200 miles zones and continental shelves in the

Barents Sea.9 Russia closed access to Norwegian and other States’ shing vessels

to its continental shelf in 2017.10

Norway adopted regulations restricting the access of shing vessels to snow crab

from 1 January 2015. In effect, the harvest on its continental shelf is reserved for

Norwegian-agged shing vessels. The harvest of the snow crab has mainly taken

place in central parts of the Barents Sea, and within the 200 nautical mile sheries

protection zone around Svalbard. Snow crab prefer temperatures below 4oC and

mostly live at a depth of 200–300 metres.11 Therefore, the projected area of distribu-

tion mainly comprises the northern and eastern Barents Sea, e.g. the waters off Sval-

bard. Snow crab are caught using pots or traps; usually 200–400 chained together

25 metres apart. A vessel may use 12,000 pots. The impact of the snow crab on the

ecosystems, habitats and species of the Barents Sea depend on its growth and distri-

bution.12 Its main effects are preying on other benthic animals and competing with

other species over food. Arctic marine systems are according to Sundet “… simpler

than ecosystems further south…” which makes them more vulnerable to external

inuences such as the introduction of invasive species.13 If the pots or traps are not

AR_2545_V3.indd 109AR_2545_V3.indd 109 12/1/2020 11:17:39 AM12/1/2020 11:17:39 AM