American experience of combating illegal, unregistered and unregulated fishing (based on the example of prohibitions in the states of California and Florida)

Abstract

The article examines modern approaches to the criminal law protection of fish stocks in some American states. Particular attention is paid to the large-scale problem of illegal, unregistered and unregulated fishing in the world and approaches to solving this problem in the United States, both at the federal and local levels. From the viewpoint of American law enforcement practices, encroachments related to pollution or depletion of environmental objects are in many ways similar to manifestations of white collar fraud, on the other hand, crimes against fauna (both land and water) are in many ways reminiscent of drug trafficking and smuggling schemes that determines the specificity of their investigation. For the sake of clarity of the presented regulatory material, an example from law enforcement practice is highlighted, which emphasizes peculiarities of the criminal-legal assessment of the actions of American citizens guilty of illegal fishing of reef fish, as well as the justified severity and rationality of the punishment assigned to them.The relevant provisions of the legislation of the two states are considered separately. The differences in regulation of the extraction of aquatic bioresources in the states of California and Florida are emphasized. In particular, it is shown that the Florida legislator delimits the illegal fishing of marine and freshwater fish species in the relevant prohibitions. The approach to the “parallel” criminal law protection of wild animals and fish (also molluscs and crabs) within the framework of a single ban is characterized as different from the national one. Taking into account materials of judicial practice, the readiness of American courts and law enforcement agencies to go, in some cases, beyond the borders of national jurisdiction during criminal prosecution of large-scale illegal fishing practices in internal waters of other countries has been demonstrated.The example of the relevant regulatory regulation in the state of Florida shows a specific system of increasing the severity (and the amount of punishment) of the relevant environmental tort within four degrees depending on the presence of specific aggravating circumstances.