How Ukrainian poachers steal Russian fish

I know what I’m writing about, I went to sea myself, I saw, in a word, it’s especially offensive for the Crimean fishermen. Officials pretend that they love and show care, but they themselves write such laws that you can’t breathe. Yes, the country needs fish, but just try to go to sea! It will be more expensive.

Fishermen have their own boundaries. And they depend not so much on the red line across the Black Sea, but on the migration routes of fish, currents and something else that only the fisherman knows about. But there is an obstacle on the way - a border boat. You can’t set nets, catch fish, feed people, although it was possible before, because now you need to get a million certificates and stupid permits that are born in the head of an official, and an official doesn’t go to sea in a storm, but loves to eat.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

Explain to a Moscow or Rostov official, someone from the mainland, that on the northeastern coast of Crimea in good weather the lights of another state are visible, that fish spawn depending on the water temperature and that it is stupid to set strict restrictions on the timing of catching... and, it seems, uselessly. The sea and the fisherman himself are just numbers on paper for an official.

But what’s most offensive is that the prohibited measures apply only to our Crimean fisherman, and not to others who don’t care about Russian laws. You take binoculars and see chaos... When the Russian border boat leaves, Ukrainian poachers enter Karkinitsky Bay and let’s collect everything we can. Without quotas or any kind of permits, they carry sturgeon, flounder, Black Sea bonito and many other valuable things.

Even if a border boat suddenly detains someone, the poachers usually manage to drop off their catch in advance and... get a ticket for swimming in the wrong place. And this is where the problems begin. Our border guards can document at least ten violations, but they are legitimate only on Russian territory. Neither Europe, nor, especially, Ukraine recognize Russian jurisdiction over Crimea, so for Ukrainian poachers, the Karkinid Gulf is the same as free waters. I don't want to catch it.

Of course, it is possible to detain the ship and the poachers, but all this will lead to an international scandal and a trial, in which there is no positive prospect for the Russian side yet. Lost fishermen were detained, so why judge?! Poachers take advantage of this.

There are a number of tough ways to resolve the issue, including arresting the ship or even lethal fire, but no one will do this. So it turns out that our fishermen sit and see how “friends” from the opposite bank are dragging fish, but they can’t do anything, because, apart from political problems, their native officials have tied their hands.

The fishermen wrote to the President of the Russian Federation and the government, but so far no response.

There is another problem that has forced the fishermen to sit down and shut up. Border guards and specialized environmental organizations inspect fishing farms far and wide, but for some reason they let sand businessmen pass by. There is no command to “notice” those who are destroying the protected Bakal Spit, in the area of ​​which there is active mining of building materials, and it is there – in shallow water – that is the spawning ground for the most valuable species of fish. Even bonito, the Crimean tuna, which was practically bred clean in the 80s, has reappeared in the Black Sea and is approaching the Bakal Spit to spawn eggs. Where there is still sand left in the shallow water.

Does the leadership of the republic know about this?! For whom are the protected sand being dug?

In general, fishermen sit, catch what they can from the shore, and watch - either the Ukrainian “poachers” from the opposite shore, or their barges full of golden reserved sand.