RF Government approved Regulations for Federal Fisheries Agency. Part 1.

On 11 June 2008 the Government of Russian Federation signed the order No.444 stipulating Regulations for Russia's Federal Fisheries Agency (Rosrybolovstvo for short).

Summing up the Regulations, Rosrybolovstvo is a federal body of executive power commissioned to perform the following functions:

1. making and implementation of state policy and legislative regulation in the sphere of fishery, onboard processing, protection, rational exploitation, research, conservation and reproduction of aquatic biological resources and their habitat, except for aquatic biological resources inhabiting especially protected wildlife areas of federal importance and those enlisted into the Red Book of the Russian Federation;

2. control and surveillance of aquatic biological resources and their habitat in inland waters of the Russian Federation, except for inland marine waters of the Russian Federation as well as the Caspian Sea and the Sea of Azov until definition of their legal status;

3. rendering state services, management of state property in the sphere of the fishery industry, protection, rational exploitation, research, conservation and reproduction of aquatic biological resources and their habitat as well as fish breeding (except for commercial purposes), fish processing, securing safety of navigation and rescue operations on the fishing grounds, production activity onboard and in marine ports as regards servicing the fishing vessels.

The Federal Fisheries Agency shall exercise its powers in cases stipulated by the current legislation of the Russian Federation on the RF territory, in the Russian EEZ and on the continental shelf of the Russian Federation as well as in cases stipulated by the international agreements, on the territory of foreign states and in the open areas of the World Ocean.

Supervision of Rosrybolovstvo is entrusted to the Government of the Russian Federation.

The Federal Fisheries Agency shall be guided by the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws, acts of Russia's President and Government, international agreements of the Russian Federation and by the Agency's Regulations.

Rosrybolovstvo shall perform its activity directly, via its territorial bodies, offices and representatives abroad and via subordinate organizations in cooperation with other federal bodies of executive power of the RF constituent subjects, local government bodies, public unions and other organizations.

Below follows an extract from the Regulations of the Federal Fisheries Agency concerning its powers:

"II. Powers

5.    The Federal Fisheries Agency shall exercise the following powers in the established sphere of activity:

5.1.introduces to the Government of the Russian Federation drafts of federal laws, regulatory acts of Russia's President and Government and other documents requiring the Government's decision on the issues referring to the Agency's sphere of activity as well as a draft plan of the Agency's operation and a forecast on the indices of its activity;

5.2.performs in the order and within the limits defined by federal laws, President's and Government's acts the powers of owner of the federal property needed to fulfill the functions of federal bodies of state power in the sphere of the Agency's activity, including the property transferred to the federal state unitary enterprises, federal state establishments and state organizations subordinate to the Agency;

5.3.approves the following regulatory acts on its own in accordance with and in pursuance of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitution laws, federal laws, President's and Government's acts:

5.3.1. methods of estimating the damage made to the aquatic biological resources;

5.3.2. regulations for the service onboard the fishing vessels;

5.3.3. a list of species of live organisms classified as live resources of the continental shelf;

5.3.4. procedure of carrying out measures on acclimatization of aquatic biological resources;

5.3.5. a list of species of aquatic biological resources classified as objects of fishery;

5.3.6. fishery regulations for each fishery basin;

5.3.7. procedure of fishery for educational and cultural enlightenment purposes;

5.3.8. procedure of fishery for farming, reproduction and acclimatization of aquatic biological resources;

5.3.9. procedure of fishery for the purposes of securing traditional lifestyle and traditional economic activity by small aboriginal peoples of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation;

5.3.10. procedure of distribution of commercial quotas for capture of freshwater aquatic objects between the constituent subjects of the Russian Federation;

5.3.11. procedure of defining the borders of the fishing sites;

5.3.12. programs of training, retraining and raising the level of skills of the specialists in the sphere of the fishery industry;

5.3.13. a list of vessel types, fishing gear and methods of capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for inshore fishery;

5.3.14. procedure of operation of basins' research councils;

5.3.15. procedure of rigging the vessels with technical control devices and their types;

5.3.16. procedure of fishery melioration of water objects;

5.3.17. procedure of operation of the commission for management of capture (catch) of anadromous fish species and its membership;

5.3.18. a list of types of information kept in the state fishery register and provided without fail and conditions of its presentation;

5.3.19. a list of vessel types, fishing gear and methods of capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for commercial fishery in respect of aquatic biological resources which have not been earlier classified as objects of fishery or capture (catch) of which is carried out in new areas of their capture (catch);

5.3.20. a list of species of aquatic biological resources regulated by the total allowable catch, for each fishery basin;

5.3.21. regulatory acts on other issues in the Agency's sphere of activity, except for the issues, legal regulation of which, according to the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws, President's and Government's acts, shall be carried out exclusively by federal constitutional laws, federal laws, regulatory acts of President and Government of the Russian Federation;

5.4.organizes:

5.4.1. complex study of aquatic biological resources for the purposes of conservation of aquatic biological resources and their habitat;

5.4.2. measures aimed at recovery of aquatic biological resources and their habitat, destroyed as result of natural disasters and other reasons, except for aquatic biological resources inhabiting specially protected wildlife territories of federal importance and enlisted to the Red Book of the Russian Federation;

5.4.3. tenders for the right to make agreements on exploitation of fishing sites;

5.4.4. education and advanced training of fishery specialists according to international and Russian requirements;

5.4.5. artificial reproduction and acclimatization of aquatic biological resources;

5.5.carries out the following activities:

5.5.1. keeps state cadastre of fauna species classified as objects of fishery;

5.5.2. draws and forwards proposals of the total allowable catches of aquatic biological resources for the State Ecological Expertise;

5.5.3. carries out state monitoring of aquatic biological resources including survey of distribution, abundance, quality and reproduction of aquatic biological resources, their habitat, fishery and conservation of aquatic biological resources as well as securing functioning of the industry's monitoring system;

5.5.4. annually defines and approves the total allowable catches of aquatic biological resources in inland waters of the Russian Federation, including inland marine waters of the Russian Federation, as well as in the territorial sea of the Russian Federation, on the continental shelf and in the exclusive economic zone of the Russian Federation, in the Sea of Azov and Caspian Sea (hereinafter total allowable catches of aquatic biological resources);

5.5.5. distributes total allowable catches of aquatic biological resources, as well as quotas for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources given to the Russian Federation according to the international agreements of the Russian Federation as applied to types of quotas;

5.5.6. distributes between the users of aquatic biological resources the scientific quotas, quotas for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for the purposes of fish farming, reproduction and acclimatization of aquatic biological resources, quotas for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for fishery for educational and cultural enlightenment purposes;

5.5.7. distributes in the established order between the juridical persons and individual entrepreneurs the commercial quotas, inshore quotas for capture (catch) of anadromous, catadromous and transboundary species, as well as quotas for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for the Russian Federation in the areas of the international agreement of the Russian Federation in the sphere of fishery and conservation of aquatic biological resources;

5.5.8. draws up, issues, registers permits for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources and introduces amendments into such permits, as well as suspends validity of permits for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources or annuls such permits prior to the end of their established validity period;

5.5.9. makes agreements with the users of aquatic biological resources on allocating shares of capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources in the total volume of quotas;

5.5.10. provides consent to a list of fishing sites involving areas of inland waters of the Russian Federation, including inland marine waters of the Russian Federation and the territorial sea of the Russian Federation, approved by an executive body of a constituent subject of the Russian Federation;

5.5.11. makes agreements on using a fishing site;

5.5.12. makes agreements on artificial reproduction of aquatic biological resources in water bodies of fishery importance;

5.5.13. introduces fishery restrictions in accordance with legislation of the Russian Federation on fishery and conservation of aquatic biological resources;

5.5.14. provides consent to distribution of economic and other objects and introduces new technological processes which influence the condition of the aquatic biological resources and their habitat;

5.5.15. defines categories of water objects of fishery importance and particular features of capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources inhabiting the water objects and classified as objects of fishery;

5.5.16. secures realization of international agreements of the Russian Federation in the sphere of fishery, fish industry and merchant navigation (as regards the fishery of aquatic biological resources), including preparation of proposals concerning the position of the Russian Federation in the issues of capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for foreign states, as well as to fulfillment of engagements arising from membership of the Russian Federation in international organizations;

5.5.17. provides organizational-methodic maintenance of the system of issuing diplomas and evaluating competence of personnel of the fishing vessels;

5.5.18. makes decisions on the issues of attracting and using foreign labour in crews of the fishing vessels sailing under the State Flag of the Russian Federation;

5.5.19. in the order stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation makes decisions on giving a temporary right of sailing under the State Flag of the Russian Federation and on a temporary transfer of a vessels under a flag of a foreign state, and provides consent to decisions on naming fishing vessels;

5.5.20. in inland water objects guards anadromous and catadromous species, transboundary species and other aquatic biological resources according to the list of such aquatic biological resources approved in the order stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation, except for aquatic biological resources inhabiting specially protected wildlife territories of federal importance and registered in the Red Book of the Russian Federation;

5.5.21. develops federal target, departmental and other programs in the Agency's established sphere of activity;

5.5.22. secures preparation of means and objects of the fishing fleet for transfer under the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation or mutual exploitation under the mobilization missions approved by the Government of the Russian Federation;

5.5.23. forms and uses federal information resources in the Agency's established sphere of activity, also concerning fishing vessels;

5.5.24. organizes auctions for sale of commercial quotas for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources and shares of quotas for capture (catch) of aquatic biological resources for commercial fishery in cases stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation on fishery and conservation of aquatic biological resources, or makes agreements on organizing such auctions with specialized organizations;

5.5.25. keeps the state fishery register;

5.5.26. suspends fishery in cases stipulated by the legislation of the Russian Federation;

5.5.27. exercises state control and surveillance of conformity with the legislation of the Russian Federation in the sphere of fishery and conservation of aquatic biological resources, except for aquatic biological resources inhabiting specially protected wildlife territories of federal importance and registered in the Red Book of the Russian Federation.

(to be continued)