Russian Court Fines Orca Capturing Firm $587,300 For Violating Fishing Regulations

VLADIVOSTOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th June, 2019) A district court in the Russian Far Eastern city of Vladivostok fined on Wednesday OOO Sochi Dolphinarium, a company engaged in capturing orcas and white whales kept in the so-called whale prison, 37.6 million rubles ($587,300) for violating fishing regulations, a Sputnik correspondent reported from the courtroom.

"To consider Sochi Dolphinarium guilty and to slap it with a fine of 37.6 million rubles," judge Tatiana Mikhailova said.

The whale prison in the Far Eastern Srednyaya Bay made headlines in fall, after Greenpeace reported that preparations for selling 13 orcas � which are on the Red List of Threatened Species � to China were underway, while 15 orcas had already been sold to China. A probe has been launched into the illegal fishing of aquatic animals and animal abuse. Russian President Vladimir Putin charged relevant agencies in February to determine the fate of the animals and verify whether they had been caught and kept in captivity legally. The release of the inhabitants of the so-called prison into the wild may start this summer.