New Russian law allows ports to refuse entry to foreign vessels suspected of illegal fishing

The State Duma, the lower house of Russia’s Federal Assembly, has approved new legislation that will allow operators of the country’s ports to refuse entry to foreign-owned vessels suspected of engaging in illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

The same law states exceptions will only be made for vessels that need to enter ports due to force majeure circumstances, onboard emergencies, pending inspections by Federal Security Service officials, or when the vessels assisted in responding to emergencies at sea.

The law was approved during its third and final reading in the lower house. It is scheduled to enter into force within 180 days following its official publication.