- Under the reign of Tsar Alexander II, Russia sold Alaska to the U.S., believing it devoid of resources. They were wrong. Since that time, Russians have considered the U.S. purchase more or less a swindle. More recently, since the early 1970s, the rules of coastal ownership have changed under the International Fishing Zones concept. A state has the right to control their coastline waters up to 200 miles out to sea. This is a problem in Alaska, when the islands in the westernmost part of the Aleutians overlap with the 200-mile limit from Siberia. The Russians want the boundary pushed eastward.
- In 1991, the weak Russian state signed an agreement giving the U.S. more fishing rights off the western Aleutians. In effect, pushing the U.S. zone of influence to the west. The Russians again claim swindle. These islands include the Wrangel, Bennett, Jeanette, Copper, Sea Lion and Henrietta, part of the Aleutian chain close to Siberia. These islands had been claimed by the U.S. Navy since 1881, well after the initial purchase from Russia in 1867. Since 1997, the Russians have demanded a revision of the 1991 treaty that would include roughly 300,000,000 lbs. more pollock fish than previously agreed to.
- The U.S., for its part, claims that the Russians are taking too many young pollock fish, thus unnecessarily depleting the supplies. Russia denies these claims. The basic Russian claim is that the 1991 treaty gives too much of the Bering sea to the U.S., depriving Russia of its rights under the International Fishing Zone agreement. The Russians are clear that the 1991 treaty was coerced from a weak and failing Russia with little interest in Alaska.
- There is more here than fishing. First of all, there are a few hundred Americans on these islands that have now become Russian citizens since the State Department gave these islands away as a means of placating Russia. Even more, there are oil and natural gas resources under the surface of these islands. It sounds like fishing is just one of the issues involved here. The Alaskan economy would be harmed seriously if this much pollock tonnage were transferred to Russia. Making this more complicated, some of the disputed islands already have Russian troops, ships and military watch towers on or near them. Clearly, Russia has already moved in.
- Russia clearly sees itself, once again, as a major power willing to take international problems seriously. Things were very different for a prostrate Russia in 1991. Back then, Russia had no ability to defend any of its claims. The government had no money and a military in disarray. Both the Siberian and Alaskan economies are heavily dependent on fishing rights in the Bering Sea.
previous post
next post