Russia has nearly halved South Korea's fishing quota in its territorial waters, blaming Seoul for its failure to invest in Russian seaports as promised earlier, the Seoul government said Sunday.
Under a fisheries agreement signed last week, South Korean fishing ships will be allowed to catch some 38,000 tons of fish in Russian waters this year, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries.
The figure marks a 36.6 percent plunge from 59,948 tons in 2014. Such a cut came mostly from a 19,500-ton reduction in the fishing quota for walleye pollack, one of the most popular fish in South Korea.
"The near 20,000-ton cut may not be a serious problem when considering that the country's overall annual consumption is at about 260,000 tons, but the government will continue working closely with Russia to make sure that there will be no problem to a stable supply of the fish," the ministry said in a press release.
Moscow cited a need to meet its own demands as a reason for the cut in South Korea's fishing quota, but has also filed complaints over Seoul's failure to fulfill its earlier pledge to invest in Russian seaports, the ministry said. (Yonhap)
