In the Tobolsk region, three people, two women and a man, are standing trial on charges of illegally catching Red List fish, which led to damage to the state amounting to more than 91 million rubles. According to information provided by the Tyumen Regional Prosecutor’s Office on December 29, the defendants used a motor boat and fishing nets to illegally catch Red Book species of fish, including sterlet and Siberian sturgeon, on the Irtysh River in the Tobolsk region from 2017 to 2023. Their actions led to the killing of more than 5 thousand individuals of these species.

Tobolyak residents planned to sell the fish they caught, and now they are facing charges in two criminal cases – for illegal production of state-protected fish species on an especially large scale and storage of food products without labeling, reports nashgorod.ru.