In 2018, fines for illegally harvested fish not listed in Red Data Book were raised several times. At the same time, the rates for damaging Red Book marine animals haven’t been revised from 2000, which means that the fines were the same or even lower than those for illegal harvesting of not endangered species.
From now on harvesting of the Red Book fish will cost much more than the poaching of the not endangered one. For instance, a 481.000 rubles fine is paid for one Amur or Siberian sturgeon. The catch of Baltic or European sturgeon is estimated at 641.000 rubles. Each starlet will cost the fishermen more than 13.000 rubles, kaluga fish – 807.000 rubles and Azov beluga – 826.000 rubles. The weight and size of the caught animal have no impact on the size of damage, the document outlines.
It is worth noting, that the new rates apply not only to Red Book fish, but also to its caviar, and marine mammals as well. For example, the fine for one Black Sea bottlenose dolphin, which represents a rare subspecies of the common bottlenose dolphin, now reaches half a million rubles, and damage for a catch of a gray whale is estimated at 1.4 to 1.9 million rubles.
