Illegal Fishing: A Fisherman Caught Red-Handed
At the beginning of October, during a patrol, the officers of the Izmail water police, together with the Odessa Fish Protection Patrol, caught a 63-year-old resident near Lake Katlabug, unloading illegally caught fish from a boat using prohibited nets.
This information was reported by the police.
The offender was apprehended, and law enforcement seized his boat, 150 meters of gill nets, and 69 fish, including crucian carp, common carp, silver carp, bream, and pike-perch. The illegal catch was transferred to a specialized enterprise for safekeeping during the pre-trial investigation.
According to the results of the engineering and ecological examination, the damage caused to the state amounted to nearly 209 thousand hryvnias.
The fisherman admitted his guilt, explaining that he was aware of the prohibition on catching biological resources with gill nets but used them for personal needs anyway.
During the pre-trial investigation, conducted under the procedural guidance of the Izmail District Prosecutor's Office, law enforcement established all the circumstances of the offense, gathered sufficient evidence, and charged the individual with illegal fishing that caused significant harm. The indictment was sent to court under Part 1 of Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The maximum penalty stipulated by this provision is three years of restriction of liberty.
