Catching gobies in the Sukhoi Liman cost the fisherman nearly 3 million

A court ordered a resident of the Odesa region to pay 2.9 million hryvnias in damages for illegal fishing in the Sukhyi Liman.

The verdict was handed down bythe Black Sea City Court of the Odesa region.

The defendant works at the Black Sea Ship Repair Plant.

According to the case file, in May 2025, he and an accomplice used prohibited fishing gear—71 “accordion”-type traps and 22 “umbrella”-type traps.

Using these traps, they illegally caught 1,850 round gobies and 47 grass crabs in the Sukhoi Liman area near the village of Oleksandrivka. Experts estimated the environmental damage at 2,915,000 hryvnias.

In court, the man admitted only partial guilt. He claimed that he did not set the traps but merely found them with a friend and used them.

At the same time, border guards reported that they saw the men retrieving their catch, baiting the traps, and setting them back in the water. When law enforcement officers arrived, they attempted to flee.

The court concluded that even if the defendant did not set the traps himself, he used them for illegal fishing and thus committed a criminal offense.

The court also noted that a spawning ban was in effect in the Sukhyi Liman at the time of the catch, and the quantity of aquatic biological resources harvested indicated significant harm to the environment.

In addition to probation, the defendant must pay over 11,000 hryvnias for the cost of the forensic examination.

The court also ordered the confiscation of the seized fishing gear, fish, and crabs, and fully granted the civil claim filed by the Black Sea City Council for compensation for damages.

Ірина Глухова