- Established under the Agreement between the Government of Denmark and the National Executive of the Faeroe Islands on the one hand and the Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the other hand concerning mutual fishery relations between the Faeroe Islands and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics of 27 November 1977.
- The Commission meets annually. The outcomes of the meeting are recorded in the protocol signed by the Parties.
- The Parties exchange quotas for fisheries in the Faroese Fishing Zone and the Exclusive Economic Zone of the Russian Federation in the Barents Sea. The Parties exchange statistical data on catches, agree upon technical measures to regulate fisheries, decide the procedure for granting fishing permits and their number and discuss issues relating to satellite tracking of fishing vessels of the Parties, electronic data exchange and a joint programme of scientific research.
The Polar Branch participates in the annual meetings of the Commission and cooperates with the Faroe Marine Research Institute (http://www.hav.fo/). The Institutes have collaborated to study the migration and distribution of blue whiting in the Norwegian Sea and adjacent waters since 1998, and herring in the Norwegian and Barents Seas since 1995. They take part in the international surveys under the programme agreed by the Working Group of International Pelagic Surveys (WGIPS). Results are submitted to the ICES Working Group on Widely Distributed stocks (WGWIDE) where scientists from both countries participate in assessments of pelagic fish stocks.
