Johan Hjort belongs to the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research and participates in a joint Russian-Norwegian ecosystem survey of the Barents Sea. The survey was approved by the official joint Norwegian-Russian fishery commission.
Research director of the Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, Ole Arve Misund, says in a news-release that they are very sorry for the denial into Russian zone in the eastern Barents Sea. - Now, we can’t complete the ecosystem as planned, says Misund.
The ecosystem research programme covers the areas from outside northern Norway, towards the sea north of Svalbard and further east into the Russian zone. The Russian research vessel Vilniusoperated by the Russian research institute PINRO in Murmansk will instead cover the eastern part of the Barents Sea.
Here you can read the blogg from Johan Hjort's research expedition.