On the introduction of the Federal Law on recreational fishing and the myths caused by it

New fishing law 2021

The new federal legislative act collects in one document all the rules of the Federal Fisheries Agency for fishing enthusiasts, who have already implemented other Russian laws and regional regulations. Main objectives of the document:

• provide free access to public water bodies for everyone who wants to fish for non-industrial purposes;
• introduce additional fishing control standards (weight, quantity, size) and increase fines for violation of them in order to renew the country's water resources.

That is, every person has the right to fish for free anywhere, with the exception of private fish farms and protected areas, but must adhere to certain rules. New in the current Federal Law: all private property objects built on public water bodies must be abolished by 2021.

Text

The new law on fishing in 2021 was adopted in December last year and comes into force on January 1, 2021. You can read or download the full version of the Federal Law on Fisheries at the link - https://docs.cntd.ru/document/901918398.

Basic provisions

The changes are aimed at:

1. Cancellation of fishing grounds and renaming them to fishing grounds.
2. Establishing acceptable daily catch rates per recreational fisherman.
3. Determination of prohibited fishing areas and acceptable fishing methods.
4. Compliance with fishing rules is monitored by fisheries inspection and public organizations, and fines have been increased.

Fishing places and types

Fishing rules divide water bodies into two types - public use and cultural fisheries. In the latter, you can catch sport fishing objects, but you must obtain a fishing license. Mining in them is carried out on a paid or free basis. Members of specialized societies may be issued vouchers, which entitles them to preferential conditions.

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Currently, the following types of fishing exist:

• Amateur. The main sign is that the production will not be used as an object of sale in the future. Each region determines what can be fished with and a ban on activities during the spawning period.
• Sports. The goal is to catch fish of a certain species with maximum weight and size. To do this, they go to the sport fishing site, pre-issue a permit, a fishing ticket, and draw up regulations based on the current legislation.
• Promyslovaya. The peculiarity is the commercial component. The fish goes on sale. The type of prey is determined - red, white or black. After the license is issued, a ban on fishing for other types of fish automatically applies. In this case, it is permitted to catch a permissible minimum amount of a type of fish not specified in the license.

These types of fisheries also differ in the periods of prohibition of activities, fishing rules and the gear used. They are described on the Rosrybolovstvo website, but it is recommended to check the details at the local branch of the organization.

Innovations and restrictions for fishermen

Features of the introduction of amateur fishing under the new rules:

• the law on paid fishing 2021 has been repealed, amateur and sport fishing should be free;
• everything that is caught within the normal limits belongs to the fisherman;
• there should no longer be any personal permissions;
• You cannot catch more than 5 kg of fish per person per day (the norm may vary by region), it is not allowed to export more than the volume in two days;
• for certain types of fish, a quantitative catch rate and a minimum carcass size are established;
• if competitions are held, then separate standards are established;
• fishing is prohibited in defense, environmental, closed facilities, irrigation canals, and fish breeding sites;
• throughout Russia, except for the Far East, North and Siberia, fishing with nets is not allowed;
• It is prohibited to conduct spearfishing using special equipment and on beaches.

Prohibited types of gear and fishing methods

For amateur and sport fishing, the use of:

• networks of all types;
• traps of all types and designs (merezh, venter, top, “muzzle”, “pins” and others), with the exception of crayfish traps, the use of which is allowed for catching crayfish in freshwater bodies;
• passive mining (catching) tools (“zakidushki”, “deliveries”, “pokes” and others) on rivers that are habitat for trout;
• fishing rods (including bottom fishing rods) and spinning gear of all systems and types with a total number of hooks (single, double or triple) of more than 10 pieces per citizen;
• trawling and dredging mining (catch) gear;
• straining and seizing fishing gear (catch) and devices (drags, seines, drags, bastings, lifts, “TVs”, “screens”, “spiders”, “grabs”, “drills”, “shards”, “capes”, “ kerchiefs", "saks", "kotsov", "krylatok", "Germans", "vozmilok" and others), with the exception of lifts ("spiders") and scoops - no more than one piece per citizen, size (length, width, height) no more than 100 cm, and mesh size (pitch) no more than 10 mm (including those used with bait) for the production (catch) of live bait (bait), except for especially valuable and valuable species of fish;
• traps,
• self-catching (red-head) hook tackle;
• piercing fishing tools (catch), with the exception of amateur and sport fishing, carried out using special pistols and guns for underwater hunting;
• firearms and pneumatic weapons, crossbows and bows;
• mining (catch) gear that affects aquatic biological resources with electric current, as well as explosive, toxic, narcotic drugs (substances) and other mining (catch) gear prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Prohibited methods of fishing

It is prohibited to extract (catch) aquatic biological resources:

• by the method of purpleing, jamming, rutting (including with the help of rattling and bogging);
• by saddles;
• “for illumination” - using lighting devices and lanterns of various designs from the surface and in the water column at night (astronomical, from sunset to sunrise) time of day for the extraction (catch) of aquatic biological resources, with the exception of fishing using fishing rods ( including bottom fishing rods) and spinning gear of all systems and names, as well as crayfish traps;
• on the track - using a rowing vessel or floating craft using more than two baits per vessel or floating craft;
• for trolling - using a sail and/or motor using more than two baits per vessel or floating craft;
• circles and girders with a total number of hooks (single, double or triple) of more than 10 pieces on the fishing gear of one citizen;
• by installing driveways, fences, pins, dams and other types of barriers that partially or completely block the bed of water bodies and prevent the free movement of fish;
• more than 5 crayfish traps per citizen, each of the parameters of the permitted crayfish traps (length, width, height - for polygonal ones, height, diameter - for conical and cylindrical ones) should not exceed 80 cm;
• mussels, shrimp, pontogammarus and chironomids with nets more than 70 cm in diameter;
• using the gill method (using bagasse traps, “harvesters”) with more than one single hook;
• freshwater crayfish by wading or diving.

Maximum daily fish catch rate

The total daily production (catch) rate for all types of fish in most regions of Russia is no more than 5 kilograms or one specimen if its weight exceeds 5 kilograms.

Important. Fishing rules establish periods of time during which recreational fishing is prohibited, as well as areas in which fishing for personal use is prohibited.

Prohibited fishing areas

Areas prohibited for the extraction (catch) of aquatic biological resources are established by fishing rules for a specific basin.

Common fishing bans include:

• in spawning and fish passage (bypass) channels of waterworks;
• within the protected exclusion zones of hydraulic structures and bridges established in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.

Fishing standards in 2021

The 2021 Fisheries Law establishes an approximate catch rate for one amateur fisherman - 5 kg per day, but in different Russian regions the permissible amount may differ, especially depending on the type of fish. Let's look at some regional features:

1. Maximum permissible weight:

• 10 kg – Astrakhan, Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Altai Territory;
• 100 kg cod, capelin and catfish, haddock, cod, pollock, herring, flounder in the Barents Sea (50 kg in the White Sea) - Murmansk and Arkhangelsk;
• 2 kg of crayfish - Tyumen, Omsk, Tomsk, Novosibirsk.

1. Quantitative restrictions:

• pike perch: maximum 3 pieces in the Nizhny Novgorod region. and Altai Territory, 5 pcs. in the Pskov region, 2 pcs. in the basins of the Azov and Black Seas;
• pike: 3 pcs. in the Nizhny Novgorod region;
• carp: 3 pcs. in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the Azov Sea basin;
• carp: 5 pcs. in the Krasnoyarsk Territory;
• taimen: 1 pc. in the Amur region;
• som: 1 pc. in the Kaliningrad region, 2 pcs. in the Black Sea basin,
• eel: 3 pcs. Kaliningrad;
• crayfish: 50 pcs. in Krasnodar region, 30 pcs. basins of the Azov and Black Seas;
• 50 pcs. oysters on Sakhalin Island.

1. Complete fishing ban:

• breeds listed in the Red Book;
• Astrakhan region – sturgeon, trout, taimen, grayling, sterlet;
• Magadan region – kaluga, spawning smelt, juvenile salmon;
• Yakutia - taimen, lenok, grayling in the period 25.05-25.06.

If the fisherman is lucky and one fish weighs more than the permissible limit, then it can be taken whole, but the rest of the catch will have to be released.

The catch volume takes into account not only raw fish that is exported from the resting place, but also fish prepared there. If the fishing lasted several days, then the daily rate should be multiplied by the number of days, but not more than two.

What new fishing rules should you know about when going to the river?

Avid fishermen are ready to move to the reservoirs. But in addition to a good fishing rod, excellent bait and good company, you will need to take with you a “manual” with the rules of amateur fishing. Since 2021, they have undergone significant changes. Rosrybolovstvo, at the request of RG, has collected the most important points of the rules in one place.

1. The main and long-awaited change: fishing areas ceased to exist this year. The only exceptions are certain regions of the North, Siberia and the Far East. Here they will have to be left in order to preserve especially valuable types of aquatic biological resources.

But on all other reservoirs, rivers, lakes and reservoirs of state or municipal property, recreational fishing becomes publicly available and free, Rosrybolovstvo emphasizes.

Previously, you had to pay for this pleasure. Now it is allowed to charge only for renting a boat, gear, all kinds of equipment or, for example, guest houses.

But there are exceptions: private artificial reservoirs, aquaculture farms, environmental areas, as well as places where this is prohibited by fishing rules.

2. You can fish almost everywhere and for free, but not more than the norm for one fisherman. This norm may vary from region to region. For example, in the Moscow region it is 5 kg per person, and in the fishing Astrakhan, Volgograd and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Altai Territory you can catch a maximum of 10 kg. There are also quantitative restrictions depending on the type of fish. Thus, 50 crayfish can be caught in the Krasnodar Territory, 30 in the basins of the Azov and Black Seas. A maximum of three pike perch can be caught in the Nizhny Novgorod region and the Altai Territory, 5 pieces in the Pskov region, 2 pieces in the basins of the Azov and Black Seas. The minimum permissible length is also taken into account (it may vary in different regions). Smaller fish should be released.

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https://personright.ru/pravila-rybalka/655-reka-don-rybalka.html - here about the rules of fishing on the Don in 2021

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Recreational fishing is now free and allowed almost everywhere. But you can catch no more than the norm per person. Each region has its own. Violators face hefty fines. Photo: Vladimir Smirnov / TASS

If one fish caught is already larger than the norm, the fisherman can keep it for himself. It is important to know that not only the fish caught is counted, but also the fish already cooked during this fishing trip. You can export two days' catch.

3. A complete fishing ban has been established for breeds listed in the Red Book. In addition, some regions have their own prohibitions: for example, in the Astrakhan region you cannot catch sturgeon, trout, taimen, grayling, and sterlet.

4. From 2021, fishing with nets is completely prohibited throughout Russia (except for the Far East, North and Siberia). Moreover, even the trade in these fishing gear is regulated - they must have an individual number and be identified by the full name of the owner.

It is also prohibited to use explosives, electric fishing rods, traps, traps, pneumatic weapons and firearms. You can fish with a fishing rod. But here, too, there are restrictions - no more than five pieces in one hand.

5. At competitions, separate standards are established. Spearfishing has its own restrictions. For example, you cannot use scuba gear or echo sounder. Spearfishing is also prohibited on the beaches.

You cannot fish in defense, environmental, closed facilities, irrigation canals, in nature reserves, spawning areas, in reservoirs where young fish have recently been released, etc.

Impressive fines have been established for violators. They threaten those who have caught and are trying to export more than the norm, who have caught prohibited species of fish. Moreover, if caught in a prohibited place, the fine is doubled. For example, Kaluga will cost almost 270 thousand rubles, beluga is slightly cheaper - about 207 thousand rubles. For 1 kg of salmon caviar you will have to pay almost 27.5 thousand rubles. Sockeye salmon will rise at just over 11.5 thousand rubles. More affordable pike perch or chum salmon will cost the offender between a little over 3 and a little over 2 thousand rubles. And for the sperm whale, the largest fine is imposed - almost 480 thousand rubles.

It must be remembered that each region has its own rules and regulations. All of them are listed on the Rosrybolovstvo website fish.gov.ru in the “Territorial Administrations” section. It’s better to double check than pay a fine.

Text: Tatiana Karabut

Minimum fish sizes

Restrictions on the length of fish were introduced in order to preserve the population of certain species and renew the country's water resources. If a young representative of the species is caught and has not yet reached the minimum size, then it must be released back into the water.

Minimum permissible length (average indicators, may differ in different areas):

• 9 cm – cancer;
• 18 cm – ram, roach;
• 20 cm – tench;
• 24 cm – saberfish;
• 25 cm – carp;
• 30 cm – carp;
• 32 cm – bream;
• 35 cm – pike;
• 38 cm – pike perch;
• 40 cm – silver carp, grass carp;
• 50 cm – eel.

New fishing rules from 2021

Download Federal Law N 475-FZ “On recreational fishing and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation” dated December 25, 2018 for free in word format

Important! In 2021, the following changes were made to the law dated December 25, 2018 N 475-FZ On Recreational Fishing and on Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation:

• fishing on the territory of the Russian Federation will be free - this means that there will be no reservoirs with fences and no fees for fishing. Such paid territories will be abolished, however, due to some legal features, such a process will last 2 years: the validity of contracts for the provision of such areas for fishing purposes expires only in 2021. Only some reservoirs located in special territories: specially protected natural lands fall under exceptions and employees for defense and security,
• restrictions are determined on fishing in many water bodies (BOs), which are used for commercial purposes aimed at the sale of specific aquacultures. Such measures are necessary in order to protect the interests of fish farms,
• Now there will be no personalized fishing permits, since this clause has been cancelled. Before this, it was believed that such permits would be used for recreational fishing,
• the new edition contains a clear list of places where fishing will be limited,
• the previously unused concept of “catch rate” appeared. Thanks to the established norm, it is planned to ensure control of the catch and conservation of fish in rivers near large cities. In each region, such standards are established individually,
• the new law directly prohibits the use of chemical elements and explosives during fishing, and violators face sanctions,
• Fishing with nets is prohibited. The use of such devices is permitted only in the Far North, Siberia and the Far East. The exception was introduced due to the characteristics of the area, where for local residents fishing is one of the main sources of fishing and income,
• VOs intended for fishing, where businessmen take money for permission to fish, will be closed for two years. This point is quite understandable. Recently, there have been many cases of deliberately blocking rivers and charging “pass” fees to those wishing to fish.
• There is no fixed standard for the extraction of water resources during fishing for physical education or sports, which is carried out on an official basis.

Permitted and prohibited fishing gear

The Recreational Fishing Act 2021 completely prohibits fishing using nets, even gillnets. In addition, trade in this equipment is regulated; each network must have an individual number and full name of the owner. You can catch with nets only at specified times in the waters of Northern Siberia and the Far East.

Amateur fishing is mainly carried out with a fishing rod, and restrictions have also been introduced - up to 5 pieces per person.

Prohibited fishing tools:

1. Networks.
2. Explosives.
3. Electric fishing rod.
4. Chemicals.
5. Traps.
6. Pneumatic and firearms.
7. Traps.
8. Stinging agents.
9. Spinning rods with 10 or more hooks.
10. Samolovki.
11. Barriers.
12. Bottom seine.
13. Moist traps.
14. Stun gun.
15. Tools for killing fish.
16. Underwater weapons and other equipment.
17. Method of draining water.
18. Unregistered watercraft.

General provisions

After the publication of the text of 475-FZ, contradictory information appeared in the information space, sometimes misleading citizens. In particular, the message that the federal law on recreational fishing in 2021 approves new fishing rules is untrue.

“Fishing Rules” is a separate legal document. In accordance with Art. 8 of the new Federal Law-475, they contain specific principles for fishing. According to part 2 of Art. 43.1 of the Federal Law of December 20, 2004 No. 166-FZ “On Fisheries and the Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources”, Fishery Rules as a regulatory document are approved by the executive authorities in the field of fisheries for each association of water bodies specifically approved by law and called fishery basins (Azov, Volga-Caspian, Baikal, etc.).

In this regard, FZ-475 does not introduce new rules for recreational fishing; it, first of all, identifies the area of ​​recreational fishing as a separate area of ​​regulation and establishes some of its own principles for it. At the same time, the “old” law FZ-166 “On Fisheries...” of 2004 continues to be in force, albeit in a new edition, with amendments approved by law 475-FZ.

Amendments to Law No. 166-FZ “On Fisheries...” were made in order to uniformly apply the legislation.

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Where and when fishing is prohibited

You can fish for food or for sport on any Russian body of water for free, if it is not included in the list of exceptions; no personal permits or licenses are needed.

Recreational fishing is prohibited in the following areas:

1. Defense facilities.
2. Nature protected areas.
3. Closed reservoirs.
4. Fish farms.
5. Spawning sites.
6. Nature reserves.
7. Reservoirs where young fish have recently been released (distance 500 m).
8. Nurseries.
9. In wintering pits.
10. Not far from dams, bridges, locks, dams, pumping stations..
11. Near the fairway.
12. Within a radius of 500 m from river mouths.

Exceptions to the rules

Each fishery basin has its own rules, for example:

• in the Rostov region you can fish in wintering pits from April 1 to November 14;
• Bashkiria and Nizhnekamsk allows fishing in reservoirs from 04/25-06/05;
• in Ingushetia you can’t fish at all from 04/15-06/15;
• in Dagestan, 01.12.31.07 is the period of ban on catching crayfish.

On some reservoirs, restrictions apply only to certain types of fish; everything else can be caught.

In spawning areas, fishing is permitted outside the spawning period.

Water bodies where recreational fishing is permitted or prohibited

In fact, the creators of the law were lying in their statement about free public fishing: there are not so many places where fishing is expressly permitted:

• On all public water bodies, except for the exceptions listed below, recreational fishing is permitted freely and free of charge;
• If a water body is owned or leased by a private or legal entity, then fishing on it is carried out in accordance with civil and land legislation. Technically, this means prohibiting fishing without the permission of the owner or lessee of the water body;
• Recreational fishing may be prohibited or limited on water bodies on defense lands, or specially protected natural areas, or other lands to which access of citizens is limited. This clause leaves the status of permitting fishing on water bodies with a complex status at the discretion of the local administration, effectively meaning a ban.

Now let's move on to direct prohibitions. Fishing is prohibited on:

• Reservoirs used for pond aquaculture, but not owned by citizens and legal entities, quarries, ponds, technical watercourses and reservoirs used in the functioning of reclamation systems. This also means a direct ban on fishing in checks, canals, spillways and bypass conduits;
• Water bodies provided for commercial fish farming, except for cases where, in accordance with federal laws, it is allowed to catch aquatic animals and plants that are not objects of aquaculture on these water bodies.

As you can see, fishing without any reservations is possible only on public objects. The wording of such objects can be read in the Water Code, but in general terms these are state and municipal lands that are not leased to third parties and do not have the status of special access to them.

Amounts of fines for violations

A fine threatens those who catch and try to catch prohibited fish species or individuals that have not yet reached the minimum length in excess of the established weight or quantitative norm. If the catch took place in a prohibited place, then the size of the penalty is multiplied by two.

The amount of penalties for certain types of fish (rubles per 1 piece above the norm):

1. Kaluga – 269,250 ₽.
2. Sturgeon – 138,024 – 160,456 ₽.
3. Salmon – 13,675 ₽.
4. Chum salmon – 2009 ₽.
5. Flounder – 3452 ₽.
6. Pink salmon – 961 ₽.
7. Herring – 685 ₽.
8. Bream, ram, roach – 500 ₽.
9. Catfish – 274 ₽.
10. Catfish, crucian carp, roach, freshwater perch – 250 ₽.
11. Other freshwater fish – 100 ₽.
12. Other sea fish – 55 ₽.

Below is a complete table with the amount of fines for illegal fishing by species of fish and other aquatic inhabitants.

Responsibility

In Art. 14 FZ-475 states that administrative and criminal liability is established for violation of the legislation on recreational fishing. The Fisheries Law in 2021 does not introduce fines for violators; they are specified in Art. 8.17, 8.37 Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation, Art. 256 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Administrative fines for individuals reach 5,000 rubles, criminal fines - 500,000 rubles.

An additional punishment to administrative liability may be confiscation of the vessel and fishing gear.

Alternative penalties to a criminal fine are:

• a fine in the amount of salary/other income for 2-3 years;
• compulsory work up to 480 hours;
• repair work up to 2 years;
• imprisonment for up to 2 years.

When illegal fishing is recognized as a crime, and it was committed by a group of persons in conspiracy and caused particularly large damage, then the fine can reach 1,000,000 rubles, and imprisonment - 5 years.

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