«The Golden Fish of the Rossony District»

«…He cast his net into the sea, — and the net came back with a fish, not an ordinary fish, — a golden one…». Of course, the fish cost the fisherman almost seven and a half thousand Belarusian rubles. Only instead of the sea – a river, and instead of a net – a poacher’s gear.

Thus, a native of the Rossony district of the Vitebsk region, on an April night, while on the Neshcharda River near the village of Porechye, intentionally, during a prohibited period, using a fishing suit, illegally caught fish using a prohibited fishing device – a “venter” (fish trap). The offender was caught at the scene and detained by employees of the Verkhnedvinsk Inter-district Inspectorate for the Protection of Fauna and Flora. Based on the quantity and species of fish caught, the amount of damage caused to the environment, in accordance with Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus of December 8, 2005 No. 580 “On some measures to increase the effective management of hunting and fishing, and improve their state administration,” amounted to 4,926 rubles 60 kopecks. The cost of the fish by weight was another 95 rubles 34 kopecks. Thus, the total damage caused amounted to 5,021 rubles 90 kopecks, which is 239.14 basic units, i.e., a large amount. A criminal case was initiated based on the committed act in accordance with Part 2 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.

During the investigation of the criminal case, the accused, who had not previously been brought to criminal responsibility, repented of his actions, fully compensated for the damage caused by the crime, and paid the criminal legal compensation established by Article 88 of the Criminal Code in the amount of 50% of the damage caused by the crime (2,520 rubles). Taking into account these circumstances and the fact that the committed crime is classified as a less serious offense, the criminal case was terminated with the recognition of a crime in the actions of the accused.

For reference:

Persons in respect of whom a decision has been made to terminate the preliminary investigation on non-rehabilitating grounds are considered to have previously committed a criminally punishable act, which aggravates their responsibility in case of committing a new crime.

For

crime provided for by Part 2 of Article 281 of the Criminal Code provides for various types of criminal liability, up to imprisonment for a term of 3 years.

Thus, wishing to illegally enrich himself by about 950,000 non-denominated rubles, the accused parted with 75,000,000 rubles.

Fishing in spring, during spawning, can often lead to significant problems with the population of valuable fish species: they do not recover fully or may take many years to recover. But the number of irresponsible fishermen continues to increase, and no one thinks about the state of the nature around us, which is why the law exists, establishing certain fishing rules. We hope that this case will serve as an example for fishermen, showing what sanctions can be applied to those who break the law and will make them think whether it is worth risking criminal liability and being subjected to rather harsh punishment due to the desire to catch a "goldfish".

Prosecutor of Rossony District Vasily Parusov