Here we must note that reference is made to Russia and not the Soviet Union. After
all, this agreement was concluded in October 1922 while the Soviet Union was
established in December 1922. Yet leaving this aside, the agreement was significantly different to the regime that was established in the Bering Sea. For instance, it
did not consider sealing under environmental pretexts, but rather as an administrative
activity that aims to deepen cooperation between Finland and Russia. In other words,
the agreement made no reference to catch limits or anything else that might have
classified sealing as a potential environmental problem. Instead, the agreement
focused on technical issues such as proper documentation fishers and sealers have
to carry on them when engaging in fishing and sealing in the other party’s waters;
how their boats were to be marked; or documentation relating to the logistics of fish
and seal processing on land. What we have here is therefore not a sealing agreement
in the more classical sense—meaning an agreement concluded to be able to continue
sealing—but rather an agreement that must be considered in larger geopolitical
contexts and a larger legal discourses. Or to put it differently, the focus of this
agreement did not rest on the seals or on the sealers, but rather on the deepening of
Finnish-Russian cooperation.
The same can be said about the second agreement that was concluded that year,
the Finnish and Russian Agreement on Fishing and Sealing Operations in Lake
Ladoga.
9 Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake in which the Ladoga ringed seal (Pusa
hispida ladogensis) can be found. The Ladoga ringed seal is one of only four
freshwater seal species that exist in the world: the Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida
saimensis) in Finland, the Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica) in Russia, and the Ungava
harbour seal (Phoca vitulina mellonae) in Canada. Despite their special adaptation to
fresh water, local fishers never paid much attention to such genetic forte. Instead,
seals constituted a direct competitor and contributed to the destruction of fishing nets
and other damage to fisheries operations. Therefore, as was common practice in the
Baltic Sea, the Finnish government paid bounties to fishers in their pursuit of seals in
order to protect the fisheries. This practice was also established by the Soviet
government in the 1920s and the main goal of this effort was the elimination of
the Ladoga ringed seal population. After all, its main forage were salmon and
whitefish, which were also the main species fished by Soviet fishers. Consequently,
the seal was named an ‘Enemy of the fisheries’ and the Soviet propaganda machinery did not spare it from depicting it as a ‘harmful beast’ that needed to be
exterminated.
With this in mind it is not surprising that the Ladoga agreement, as its Arctic
Ocean cousin, did not hold an environmental dimension, but was also fundamentally
technical, essentially establishing fishing sealing rights for both parties in each
other’s waters. The main difference to the Arctic Ocean agreement was that it merely
held a 10-year life span. Why this was inserted cannot be ascertained. The establishment of fishing and sealing seasons, lasting from 1 May to 15 November, could be
9 Suomen ja Venäjän sopimus kalastuksen ja hylkeenpyynnin harjoittamisesta Laatokalla [Finnish
and Russian Agreement on Fishing and Sealing Operations in Lake Ladoga], 28 October 1922.
134
6 The International Legal Framework for Seals
all, this agreement was concluded in October 1922 while the Soviet Union was
established in December 1922. Yet leaving this aside, the agreement was significantly different to the regime that was established in the Bering Sea. For instance, it
did not consider sealing under environmental pretexts, but rather as an administrative
activity that aims to deepen cooperation between Finland and Russia. In other words,
the agreement made no reference to catch limits or anything else that might have
classified sealing as a potential environmental problem. Instead, the agreement
focused on technical issues such as proper documentation fishers and sealers have
to carry on them when engaging in fishing and sealing in the other party’s waters;
how their boats were to be marked; or documentation relating to the logistics of fish
and seal processing on land. What we have here is therefore not a sealing agreement
in the more classical sense—meaning an agreement concluded to be able to continue
sealing—but rather an agreement that must be considered in larger geopolitical
contexts and a larger legal discourses. Or to put it differently, the focus of this
agreement did not rest on the seals or on the sealers, but rather on the deepening of
Finnish-Russian cooperation.
The same can be said about the second agreement that was concluded that year,
the Finnish and Russian Agreement on Fishing and Sealing Operations in Lake
Ladoga.
9 Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake in which the Ladoga ringed seal (Pusa
hispida ladogensis) can be found. The Ladoga ringed seal is one of only four
freshwater seal species that exist in the world: the Saimaa ringed seal (Pusa hispida
saimensis) in Finland, the Baikal seal (Pusa sibirica) in Russia, and the Ungava
harbour seal (Phoca vitulina mellonae) in Canada. Despite their special adaptation to
fresh water, local fishers never paid much attention to such genetic forte. Instead,
seals constituted a direct competitor and contributed to the destruction of fishing nets
and other damage to fisheries operations. Therefore, as was common practice in the
Baltic Sea, the Finnish government paid bounties to fishers in their pursuit of seals in
order to protect the fisheries. This practice was also established by the Soviet
government in the 1920s and the main goal of this effort was the elimination of
the Ladoga ringed seal population. After all, its main forage were salmon and
whitefish, which were also the main species fished by Soviet fishers. Consequently,
the seal was named an ‘Enemy of the fisheries’ and the Soviet propaganda machinery did not spare it from depicting it as a ‘harmful beast’ that needed to be
exterminated.
With this in mind it is not surprising that the Ladoga agreement, as its Arctic
Ocean cousin, did not hold an environmental dimension, but was also fundamentally
technical, essentially establishing fishing sealing rights for both parties in each
other’s waters. The main difference to the Arctic Ocean agreement was that it merely
held a 10-year life span. Why this was inserted cannot be ascertained. The establishment of fishing and sealing seasons, lasting from 1 May to 15 November, could be
9 Suomen ja Venäjän sopimus kalastuksen ja hylkeenpyynnin harjoittamisesta Laatokalla [Finnish
and Russian Agreement on Fishing and Sealing Operations in Lake Ladoga], 28 October 1922.
134
6 The International Legal Framework for Seals