The mullet turned out to be "golden": 3 nets resulted in losses of 530,000 hryvnias

At the Berezansky estuary, fisheries protection officers uncovered a man who, during the ban on catching Azov-Black Sea mullet, was using prohibited nets. In a single outing he illegally caught 315 mullet specimens, and the damage to the fishery was estimated at 530,145 hryvnias.

The violation was detected on 9 September 2026 during a joint fisheries enforcement raid by state inspectors of the Mykolaiv Fisheries Patrol and water police officers. During the inspection the man had 3 monofilament nets seized. They contained 315 illegally caught fish. According to specialists’ calculations, the total amount of damage caused to the fishery amounts to 530,145 hryvnias.

The particularity of the case is that the angler was caught practically at the end of the seasonal ban. Under recreational fishing rules, catching Azov-Black Sea mullet in the Black Sea and estuaries is prohibited from 20 August to 10 September. The purpose of the restriction – to ensure conditions for the reproduction of this fish’s stocks. For violating fishing rules the man was issued an administrative report under Part 4 of Article 85 of the Code of Ukraine on Administrative Offenses.

An investigative-operational police team was also called to the scene. Law enforcement officers conducted an inspection, and information about the illegal catch was forwarded for further procedural assessment. According to the Fisheries Patrol, the issue of liability under Part 1 of Article 249 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine is being considered – illegal engagement in fishing, hunting, or other aquatic harvesting.

For comparison, charges for illegal catch of mullet species are calculated per individual specimen, not by the total weight of the catch. The current damage rates are approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Resolution No. 1042 of 29 September 2023.

In Mykolaiv region this is not the first large case of illegal harvesting of aquatic biological resources this year. At the end of August 2026 in Pervomaisk a man was caught with 77 crayfish, and the preliminary damage to the ecosystem was estimated at nearly 256,000 hryvnias. In July on the Bug liman an illegal catch of 98 fish even included a Red Book-listed sevruga – the damage then amounted to almost 300,000 hryvnias.

Earlier we wrote:

• Dived with a mask for crayfish: illegal catch in Mykolaiv region inflicted nearly 256,000 hryvnias of damage to the ecosystem
• Nearly a hundred fish, including a Red Book-listed sevruga: illegal catch uncovered in the Bug liman
• Shrimps, gobies and crabs: illegal catch in the Black Sea exposed in Mykolaiv region
• Caught not fish but trouble: in Mykolaiv region a wayward angler ended up owing over 700,000 hryvnias
• Spawning ban? Never heard of it: poachers had 83 nets, 7 vessels and caught fish confiscated