Kakheti region, Georgia: The Employees of the Environmental Supervision Department of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture revealed the fact of illegal fishing in the Kakheti Region of Georgia.
This was done in the framework of the fight against poaching. Poachers often used illegal fishing tools such as fishing nets, electric shock devices, fishing nets, and others.
The fight against poaching is a priority for the Department of Environmental Supervision. In 5 months of 2025, only in Kakheti, employees of the regional government revealed 11 facts of illegal fishing. 9 facts of them contain criminal offenses. Poachers used electric weapons during illegal fishing in 6 cases. The amount of fish caught illegally is 75.49 kilograms.
Employees of the Environmental Supervision Department have revealed one more fact of illegal fishing in Kakheti, in the municipality of Luvli, on the river Alazan. The offender had illegally obtained 15 kg of stingray fish using a fisherman’s electric weapon.
Since the facts contain signs of criminal offenses, materials were sent to relevant authorities for further response.
The Environmental Supervision Department conducts regular inspections and patrols to prevent and combat illegal fishing activities in the country’s freshwater and marine areas. Since both facts contain signs of a criminal offense, the materials were sent to the relevant agencies for further response.
It is to be added that the Department of Environmental Supervision crews carry out continuous 24-hour patrolling throughout the country to prevent and detect illegal forestry, poaching, fishing, and other environmental violations promptly. In addition, immediate response is given to each message received on the hotline (153) of the Ministry of Environment Protection and Agriculture.
Illegal fishing is a serious problem that threatens the biodiversity and sustainability of the aquatic resources in Georgia. The department urges citizens of the country to consider that fishing is prohibited with means such as electrodes, electric shock devices, self-made electronic tools, firearms, netting, etc.
