Kamchatka has completed a trial related to a blatant case of illegal pollock fishing, which caused serious damage to the ecosystem of the region. The captain of the fishing seiner SRTM “Moneron Island” was found guilty of repeatedly exceeding the permitted fishing quotas. The court found that in March 2022, the ship’s crew, having permission to harvest only 210 tons of pollock, illegally caught more than 745 tons of this fish in the North Okhotsk fishing subzone. The damage caused to aquatic biological resources exceeded 236 million rubles.
The ship’s captain used clever methods to conceal his actions. He periodically sent a seiner to the border with the West Kamchatka fishing subzone, where he simulated trawling, and in reports to regulatory authorities indicated underestimated catch data. Such actions not only violate the law, but also undermine efforts to preserve marine ecosystems, which are already under pressure due to overfishing.
As a result of the investigation, the captain was brought to criminal responsibility under Article 253 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation concerning violations of legislation on the continental shelf and the exclusive economic zone of Russia. The court sentenced him to three years in prison and a fine of 650 thousand rubles. The shipowner, JSC SK BSF, was also punished: in June 2023, the Sakhalin Arbitration Court fined the company 20.9 million rubles, and in March 2024, the full amount of damage in the amount of 236.9 million rubles was recovered from it.
This case has become another alarming signal about the need to strengthen control over the fishing industry. Illegal fishing not only damages biodiversity, but also threatens the sustainability of marine ecosystems, on which thousands of people employed in the fishing industry depend. Experts emphasize that such violations can lead to irreversible consequences for the environment, including a reduction in the population of pollock and other fish species, which will eventually affect the entire ecosystem of the Sea of Okhotsk.