Russian warships have resumed its patrols of the Arctic sea around the Svalbard archipelago, an area claimed by both Russia and Norway - their first showing since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Moscow insists the moves are mainly to protect Russian fishermen who have been blocked access from the waters around Spitzbergen. Norway claims exclusive rights to the waters, which Russian refuses to recognise. But fishermen say the arrival of destroyers and a missile cruiser can hardly be described as fishery protection vessels.

The Icelandic freezer trawler Venus, owned by HB Grandi, has recently been fishing in Russian Barents Sea waters. The company's quality control manager Steindór Sverrisson said that fishing has been fairly slow, with catches consisting mostly of cod and some haddock.

He had heard from the skipper, Haraldur Árnason who said they were delayed by the Russian Navy, which has been on manoeuvres in the Barents Sea. Large areas were closed to any other shipping, so they had to take a detour to go around the closed zone.

Analysts suggest that Russia's greater purpose is to get its foot into the door of the potentially lucrative resource exploitation of the Arctic region's seabed. Russia is racing with Canada, Norway, Denmark and the US to secure rights to these valuable resources which include natural gas and precious metals as well as fish.

www.fishupdate.com is published by Special Publications. Special Publications also publish Fish Farmer, the Fish Industry Yearbook, the Scottish Seafood Processors Federation Diary, the Fish Farmer Handbook and a range of wallplanners.

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