Night raids and photo traps: how in the Ostrovets district to protect the red-book trout – in the report of ONT

Atlantic salmon and trout travel hundreds of kilometers each year to enter the rivers of the Ostrovetsky district for just a month. Here they have a kind of "birthplace." Both are in the Red Book, but the human craving for a free ear doesn't seem to reverse it. However, such a catch easily attracts a criminal case.

Almost untouched nature is a natural shield for untouchable fish. Environmental volunteers lead us to the forest river. It is hard to believe that fish from the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea come here, give birth and go back thousands of kilometers. Kumzha is from the salmon family.

She comes to spawn from October to December. She lays eggs in special nests that build from small stones. The poachers were waiting for her along the channel. Sea red fish is an expensive delicacy.

You can't put an inspector at every turn of the river. Therefore, eco-activists come to protect the Red Book fish. They set up camera traps, are on duty even at night, conduct raids along Vilia and its tributaries.

The success of the project can be judged only after the new offspring of trout return to the place of birth for their spawning. And that's not until 2030. The experimental young have not yet gone to sea. The ichthyologist admits that if the fish becomes more, it will be possible to temporarily deprive it of its immunity status. Like they did with a bison and a bear.

Today, for the catch of trout, in addition to administrative liability and confiscation of gear, there is also compensation for harm to nature. If the amount of damage is more than 100 basic, then this is a criminal article.