Russian Cabinet Intends To Ban Capture Of Cetaceans

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 27th April, 2021) The Russian government has prepared amendments to a draft Federal law to prohibit commercial catching of cetaceans, Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko said on Tuesday.

"The draft federal law establishes a ban on industrial and coastal fishing of cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises)," Abramchenko's press service said.

According to the office, the authorities are seeking to set up stricter regulations for the fishing of marine mammals in Russia's exclusive economic zone, including a ban on the catching of certain species of marine mammals. The issue of establishing a permanent ban on exports of cetaceans will be worked out at the level of the Eurasian Economic Union, it added.

"Our task is to ensure the preservation and restoration of the entire range of Russian biodiversity, including aquatic biological resources that are of serious importance to the ecosystem. The protection and safeguarding of the population of marine mammals and other endangered species are an absolute priority of environmental policy," Abramchenko was quoted as saying.

The relevant draft is said to have been approved by a government commission on legislative activity. The amendments to the draft law are expected to be presented at the cabinet's meeting within two weeks.

Previously, the catching of marine mammals was conducted in line with quotas issued by Russian national fishery agency Rosrybolovstvo, a practice strongly opposed by animal rights activists, as mammals such as killer whales, dolphins, belugas and other rare species were at risk of capture.

In 2018, a scandal over a "whale jail" in Russia's Far East erupted, prompting an inquiry into the illegal fishing of aquatic animals and animal abuse. Environmentalists found that a large group of marine mammals was being held in captivity in Srednyaya Bay of Russia's Primorsky Region. The stranded animals were being prepared to be smuggled to China. As a result of a probe, the companies responsible for the violation were fined a total of 150 million rubles ($2 million). The trapped orcas and belugas have since been steadily released in groups into the wild.