Special operation to protect bioresources under way in Far East

By order of the Minister of the Interior of Russia a special operation of police to protect biological resources, Roadblock-East, is being carried out in the Far East.

The operation began on the week-end simultaneously on the territories of the Khabarovsk and Maritime Territories and the Amur and Sakhalin Regions, the press service of the Main Directorate of the Interior Ministry of Russia for the Far-Eastern federal district reported on Monday.

The purpose of the operation is to expose and stem breaches of law in the sphere of catching, processing and sale of fish and marine biological resources.

As specialists note, during the spawning of river and sea fishes and other inhabitants of water areas, which are caught or not caught by man, the inflow of poachers, who catch fishes of valuable breeds, thereby creating a threat of their extinction, intensifies.

Interior Minister of Russia Boris Gryzlov has demanded that the local authorities and law-enforcement bodies take emergency measures to stem poaching.

The head of the Khabarovsk Territory signed a resolution on measures to protect the spawning sturgeon and salmon fishes. This document prohibits even amateur fishing in spawning water reservoirs from May 20 to August 20, as well as movement of any craft in spawning water reservoirs.

Control over the carrying out of the Roadblock-East operation shall be exercised by plenipotentiary representative of the president of the Russian Federation in the Far-Eastern federal district Konstantin Pulikovsky.