As much as 40% of the cod and haddock eaten in the UK comes from Russian territory – making it vital to what some say is Britain’s national dish.
The UK and Russia have a decades-long agreement that allows British ships to fish in the Barents Sea, north of Russia and Norway and south of the Arctic.
But the Russian agriculture ministry has drafted a bill that would see the deal – originally agreed in 1956 – torn up, Russian media have reported.
Andrew Crook, president of the UK’s National Federation of Fish Friers, said the war in Ukraine had already made things difficult for businesses that rely on fish for the past two years.
The British government has brought in tariffs on Russian whitefish, which made up about half of the market in the UK, he told Sky News.
“For the last two years we’ve experienced really high prices on fish, which we’re still paying the price for,” he said.
“Any business that had savings that’s all been eroded because we’ve been paying a lot for fish – and potatoes.”
He said that Russia’s plan to scrap the agreement may not have a seismic impact, as the Norwegian part of the Barents Sea provides more fish.
But he said that “it’s weaponising food which is not a good thing for the world”.
Russian newspaper Izvestia reported that the bill has the backing of the Russian government.
Kremlin documents claim that “the denunciation of the agreement will not cause serious foreign policy and economic consequences for the Russian Federation.”
The Russian government is said to believe that the country does not get as much out of the agreement as the UK does.
While getting rid of the treaty would represent another element of economic disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin is unlikely to start an actual war with the UK, the country’s ambassador in London said earlier this week.
Andrei Kelin told LBC’s Andrew Marr that he does not see any chance of a conflict between London and Moscow.
“Politically we are on a different side of the chess board let us say but militarily I don’t believe that anything will happen,” he said.
“We are nuclear states. Russia has enormous capacity and Britain is as well a nuclear state. What kind of conflict may arise between us? There is a statement commonly known that nuclear war should not be fought because it cannot be won.”
