Ministry of Agriculture transferring fishery police functions to Russia's State Fisheries Committee

However Andrey Krainy, the Head of Russia's State Fisheries Committee, believes that the process may take longer time because Rosselkhoznadzor (Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance) operating within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Agriculture will unwillingly return the properties purchased on the federal budget's funds during three years (since 2004) when this department was responsible for fishery policing.

The head of the Committee notes that they do not claim the role of a law enforcement body, but are going to cooperate with frontier guards and other law enforcement organizations. According to Andrey Krainy, at the moment while the transfer has not been completed, the Committee's fishery inspectors are policing only inland waters such as lakes and rivers. He assumes that the control in the inshore and offshore marine waters (12-mile zone and beyond) must be carried out together with frontier guards.

As Andrey Krainy says, in the Sea of Okhotsk the officials from the Committee with frontier guards have already been arresting illegally fishing vessels.