The first Russian vessel was detained on suspicion of poaching following an inspection by Danish border guards at the port of Torshavn, the capital of the Faroe Islands.
The second trawler was also held on suspicion of poaching in the 200-mile Faroe economic zone. The ship, along with its crew, was taken to Torshavn.
The captains of both ships refused to accept the charges and filed protests with local authorities. However, they agreed to stay at the Danish port pending the investigation.
Previously, detentions of Russian fishing vessels were frequent in a prime fishing area around the Arctic Ocean archipelago of Spitzbergen, which belongs to Norway. Russia does not recognize Norway's exclusive rights in the 200-mile economic zone near Spitzbergen.
Russia and Norway have been involved in a decades-long dispute over maritime boundaries in the Barents Sea, which is rich in oil and gas reserves, as well as fishing resources.
According to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, an exclusive economic zone extends for 200 nautical miles (370 km) beyond the baselines of the territorial sea, and includes the territorial sea and its contiguous zone.
A coastal nation has control of all economic resources within its exclusive economic zone, including fishing, mining, oil exploration, and any pollution of those resources.
