Poaching

poaching: see cooking.

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Poaching 

the taking of or destruction of game in violation of the rules of hunting, fishing, and other requirements of the law on the preservation of wildlife.

Soviet law defines poaching as (1) hunting and fishing by persons lacking a hunting ticket, license, or other permit of a governmental agency; (2) hunting and fishing during a prohibited period of the year, in a prohibited place, or with prohibited means (methods or instruments); (3) the shooting or catching of those species of animals and birds, as well as fish and other aquatic animals, which is completely prohibited by law; (4) exceeding the catch or bag limits of game, as well as taking them in quantities above that allowed in the license or other permit; and (5) the collection of eggs or down of useful birds, the destruction of nests, burrows, dens, and other violations of the rules for preserving wildlife.

Depending on the degree of danger to the public from violation of the rules for preserving wildlife, poaching is considered to be either an administrative misdemeanor or crime (see the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, arts. 163, 164, and 166). Besides being made administratively or criminally responsible in the event of the illegal taking or destruction of wildlife, the guilty person is obligated to repay the material loss he has caused. This repayment is based on the tariff value of the animal species established by the councils of ministers of the Union and autonomous republics and the oblast and krai executive committees of the soviets of working people’s deputies. The term “poaching” is not used in Soviet criminal law, and the punishment for poaching is set by the articles of the Criminal Code on illegal hunting and illegal engagement in fishing or other marine industries. The law codes of most foreign countries also stipulate administrative, criminal, and civil penalties for poaching.

O. S. KOLBASOV