[muawiyah]

Been about 2 years but I was doing some research on the Pechanga area and discovered the Russians had decided to see if Alaskan king crab, etc. could be transplanted to the Arctic over their way.

Turned out they could. In short order they became the top predator and pushed out over to Norwegian waters.

The Norwegians consider them an invasive species so they allow them to be trapped in unlimited quantities 24/7. The Russians view them as a valuable resource ~ particularly for export.

The result is the Russians feed them and the Norwegians give'em away.

The Pachenga River estuary is pretty close to the Norwegian border. Until about 1820 no one knew there was a border there.

[colorado tanker]

I did some googling as I'm unfamiliar with the area apart from the Petsamo period of Finnish sovereignty. I ran across this interesting story of some bicyclists traveling a circle route around Norway, Russia and a southern return. They went from Kirkenes, Norway:

To this outside Nikel, Russia, just across the border:

Fascinating contrast. The pollution of the nickel mine is astounding.

http://www.trentobike.org/Countries/Russia/Tour_Reports/Crossing_into_Russia/