On Wednesday, Russia’s fisheries agency announced its intention to potentially prohibit Norwegian fishing vessels from accessing its territorial waters in response to Norway’s alignment with EU sanctions targeting two Russian fishing companies.

In May, Brussels imposed sanctions on Murman Seafood and Norebo, alleging that these companies misused their vessels for non-fishing-related activities, including suspicious movements near NATO exercises, undersea cables, and critical infrastructure. Some of the vessels were reported to have connections to state-sponsored surveillance efforts in Russia.

Norway, which is not a member of the EU, adopted these sanctions in early July, leading to condemnation from both Russia’s Foreign Ministry and Murman Seafood, which vowed to retaliate.

During an urgent bilateral meeting of the Joint Norwegian-Russian Fisheries Commission on Wednesday, Rosrybolovstvo reiterated its threat.

Rosrybolovstvo’s head, Ilya Shestakov, stated that if Norway does not revise its stance within a month, Russia will restrict Norwegian fishing vessels from its exclusive economic zone. Furthermore, he added that the management of fishing activities and quotas in the open waters of the Barents and Norwegian Seas would be conducted in accordance with Russian national interests.

Despite the heightened tensions of the Cold War, Norway and Russia successfully established an agreement on fishing quotas in the Barents Sea in 1976, which has since been renewed annually for the rich cod waters.