Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency drafted order defining large damage to aquatic resources

The new draft order of Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency forwarded for approval by the nation's Government under the crackdown on poachers has defined the catch sizes to be defined as large damage in administrative offenses. More specifically, for the Russian North Fisheries Basin (the White Sea, inland marine waters, territorial sea, Russia's EEZ and the continental shelf of the Russian Federation in the Laptev Sea, the Kara Sea, the Barents Sea, and in Spitsbergen) these figures applicable to "objects of fishery" include 45 tonnes for cod, 30 tonnes for haddock and capelin, 3 tonnes for sea scallops and red king crab, 50 tonnes for herring, 20 tonnes for plaice, 15 tonnes for halibut and ocean perch, 10 tonnes for shrimp, and 10 tonnes for other aquatic biological resources classified as objects of fishery, reports B-Port.Com.

The draft order specifies the size of a large damage to aquatic biological resources and the procedure of defining the size of damage which shall be regarded large. The document says that the above large damage to the marine resources shall not apply to the notion of a large damage caused by illegal capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources subject to the criminal legislation of the Russian Federation.

The draft order called "On defining the size of large damage to the aquatic biological resources and the procedure of its definition" is aimed at implementing Clause 3, Part 2, Article 13 and Part 2, Article 53 of the Federal Law "On Fishery and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources" dated 20 December 2004.