Poacher fishing in Astrakhan

Says Sergey Dolya:

So it was that agreed with me to talk to a representative of this 'profession'. From the base, where the rest of our company, we drove a few hours to a different area to the meeting. For obvious reasons, I can not show his hero. Let me just say that Basil - a middle-aged man and a native of the Astrakhan region - grinning, introduced himself as "a hereditary poacher." According to him, engaged in poaching his grandfather, his father and many of the men in the family.

Before beginning the story, I want to designate their own attitude to this phenomenon. Obviously, like any normal person, I am against poaching. I travel to Astrakhan for 8 years and I see with my own eyes, that every year the fish becomes less and less. The poachers who hunt for black caviar, killed and thrown overboard half a ton of sturgeon for a pass. During the season, only one team poaching kills nearly 50 tons of sturgeon, which then do not find in the store. But the problem is not only in the avarice of those fishermen who break the law. It is deeper - the low level of life, the absence of alternatives and monstrous corruption. Bribes for poaching tens and hundreds of millions of rubles a year! But first things first ...
16 photos and a couple of video





In order to talk about how poachers are breaking the law, it is necessary first to talk about these laws:

 - Firstly, in order to fish in the commercial scale requires a special permit, which gives the Volga-Caspian territorial department of Federal Agency for Fishery. Every Putin fishermen peasants receive such permission and only having the paper, go to fish.

 - Secondly, fishing is possible only at certain times of the year. This period is called Putin. In the year two fishing season - summer and winter. This is done for obvious reasons - the fish need to spawn and the "rest" of the fishermen.

 - Third, the process of commercial fishing strictly regulated, to the point, how much of what kind of fish you can catch, how and where to catch fish. Illegal fishing tools (nets, trolling lines), breach of quota - this is poaching.

So, I arrived at the place, the first thing Basil showed those tackles that are banned - and samolovny seine net. We took a boat and went to rumble. Basil showed those orders which are close to the village - they are used mainly for themselves, as close to the village especially many not catch. Accordingly, poaching can be divided into two types: household (where the fish are caught, roughly speaking, home on the table) and commercial (when the catch for sale).

Along the way, Basil showed the boat: "If you see a small boat with a powerful engine - it's probably the boat poachers." Those who are engaged in poaching seriously, hang on a boat, two or even three of the engine. It is necessary to go into the sea from the border guards ...



Show a serious boat Basil could not. In a village near their homes, of course, no one holds. However, the network plenty of photos of the boat, confiscated by border guards:



© fotocom (source)

Boats poaching in the Caspian Sea called Biden. They have a small draft, the length of an average of about 10 meters. The design and shape of the boat such that it can overcome the waves. The total capacity of several outboard motors reaches 700 horsepower. This allows you to reach speeds of over 100 km / h, even when loading Baida serious catch up to half a ton. According to Basil, the cost of a normal poaching boats ranges from 300 thousand to one million.



Motors (purchased separately) - the most valuable in Bayda. The report RIA Novosti (1 minute 34 seconds), there is an episode that illustrates this vividly:

"Do not give leave Bayda only lumbago its engines, so poachers literally fall on them - people border guards will not shoot ...»

Where are the poachers keep their Baida? Basil said that for this purpose each poacher has a cache to peals find that it is practically impossible without GPS. Baida hidden in a copse, he sprouted the reeds that extend for hundreds of kilometers. Poachers choose suitable Kolka, pierce the bottom of the four poles, pull the rope between them - get a box. This box tied with reeds alive - do not cut it, but simply connect the plants growing next to make a wall of reeds. Top pull scrim, so even a helicopter to observe canoe impossible.

In a previous post I showed rumblings from the air - imagine how easy it is to get lost here poaching boat:



On the commercial poaching in the sea, I'll detail below. We, meanwhile, went into a small Eric (flow). There are no markings on this site were not, Basil said that focuses on the trees. He took the anchor cat thrown into the water and started to raft down the river:



At some point, he snagged the order and picked it up out of the water:



Procedure - a Kryuchkov samolovnaya tackle. It is a rope, which leashes fastened with hooks. However, sharpened hooks do not put any bait - they just cling to the sides of the fish, when she passes by. The procedure is at a height of 1 centimeter from the bottom, and any fish that swims along the bottom, will inevitably clings to hooks:



Tackles bought from Rostov. In the fishing superstition, the number of hooks shall be odd - for example, if it turns 90, dovyazyvayut another. Hooks hung at a distance of 10 centimeters from each other:



On the use samolovnogo seine ban imposed by Peter I:



Vasily near home two orders of 71 and 91 hook. Check them every night. Usually the day they catch one - two sturgeon, but that day the entire catch consisted of two goldfish. The fish is killed so that he could not save any superstitions:



Then Basil went to show a grid on the carp. Represented mesh stick and it blocked the whole Eric - all the fish that passes through the duct enters the network:



Extracts network as a cat. The cell is large, so the small fish passes, and large caught:



I asked Basil, what would happen if the grid will hook accidentally spinning the tourists? He waved his hand and said he did not see anything wrong. The network can be repaired or put another.

In an article about the poaching I stumbled upon a very important point. In a nutshell, the idea is that a long time ago, in the year, too, were caught with nets. But then, each network has its weight in gold. Networks are handmade weeks and cherished as the apple of his eye. And now you can easily buy any grid to lose, break or forget and then find another ...



So, except for domestic poaching, there are commercial - the one that causes the most damage. It takes place in the sea.

From village to peals poachers are about an hour by boat unpretentious. Enjoy the navigation and go in the evening, when it begins to get dark. Arriving at the place, transplanted to the canoe and boat hidden in the reeds, and go to sea. From the latter splitting with reeds before the first marine order of about 70 km. Go 40 minutes to return home when it begins to dawn. At sea, go through the day, that is 15 times a month, if all is well with the weather. If a sea storm, you can spend the night in Kolk (day) and come back in a few days.

If commercial fishermen are working only in season fishing season, the fish poachers until it becomes ice - from March to November. Vasily sea 12 orders of magnitude of 201 to 401 hooks, that is 20 to 40 meters. For a pass raise the average half a ton of fish: the boat can not see the bottom, go for sturgeon. The orders are for the navigator. If you miss a day (for example, because of bad weather) - fish stuhnet. It is necessary to raise the order to remove the damaged catch and set again.

Taking tackle poachers dump all the fish into the boat and start to look for eggs. According to Basil, in semitones sturgeon have two or three fishes with caviar. They squeeze the eggs in the package, and sturgeon discarded. Why is that? Heavy boat eats more fuel, and many sturgeon can not be sold. If there are caviar, this is enough to justify the trip, because the cost of caviar - 24 thousand per kilogram. Sturgeon - 400 rubles per kilogram. Sturgeon - 350 rubles per kilogram. If we assume that an average of half a ton of turns six kilograms of caviar, the revenue will be about 140 thousand rubles.

On average, one a pass poachers earn 170 rubles tyasyach: 150-140 thousand to 20-30 thousand eggs, and meat-(about 50 kg - other fish discarded).



e_polonskiy (source)

In the words of Basil, the sea they are afraid only of border guards, so go at night. Work with turning off the engine and if they hear the sound of approaching engines, then throw everything overboard and quietly depart from the order. After the boat will pass - back.

With regulatory authorities, according to Basil, the question is easily solved - bribes. By establishing a "rate", leaving one poaching in the sea "worth" 50 thousand rubles, and have to pay in any case, even if there is no catch. If you do not pay, there will be problems. May also rent their "colleagues" from the village. If we calculate the average walker 12 per month, it turns out 600 thousand rubles of bribes to a poaching gang. According to Basil, in his district there are 10 such teams. It turns 6 million per month, or 48 million per year over the 8-month season. Incredible numbers. And it is only one area in the Astrakhan region.

In the village, according to Basil, "Rosrybolovstvo sleeps day and night." Engaged only in that graze tourists from spinning and penalize fishermen. Astrakhan has repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the agency. This year, with the beginning of the fishing season in general commercial fishermen we blocked the Volga delta, to somehow draw attention to what makes the Volga-Caspian territorial administration:

Dmitry Markov
River Swamp



Here's another post and video of what is happening on the Volga:

"Networks lined with everything! Everything. They do not hide, all along the coast on both sides of the river forced networks. Polo overwhelmed networks. Near the village of Starovolzhskogo 1 kilometer of the river, we counted (attention!) 56 !!! Networks. If employees VKTU arrived here, they would have carried out its annual "plan" ...

alexandr-alymov.livejournal.com/1435806.html



All this is very sad. Even Basil recognizes that it is wrong - in his words, 20 years ago, fish was 100 times more. It is terrible to imagine what will happen in another 20 years ...

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