The Inspection for the Protection of Fauna and Flora reports that the catching of long-clawed (narrow-clawed) crayfish by citizens for personal purposes is regulated by the Rules for the Extraction, Procurement and (or) Purchase of Wild Animals Not Related to Hunting and Fishing Objects, approved by the Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus of 02.06.2006 No. 699 (as amended and supplemented).
Crayfish catching is prohibited:
in the Vitebsk region from April 10 to June 8, as well as egg-bearing females and females with larvae throughout the year;
with a body length of less than 10.5 centimeters (from the tip of the rostrum to the end of the telson);
using more than three crayfish traps per person (by citizens for personal purposes);
leaving crayfish traps without visual control, as well as using them during dark hours (by citizens for personal purposes);
using lighting devices and (or) watercraft, as well as catching by hand during dark hours;
using aqualungs and other means of extracting wild animals, except for crayfish traps (by citizens for personal purposes).
A crayfish trap is a device for catching crayfish, which is a mesh square (circle) with a diagonal (diameter) of no more than 100 centimeters with bait attached in the center (open-type lift net) or a trap (no more than 100 cm long) with one or more (no more than 5) entrances with an inlet diameter of no more than 70 centimeters (closed-type).
Dark hours are the period of time that begins one hour after sunset and ends one hour before sunrise.
The crayfish catch limit is 2 kg per day per person.
For violation of the above Rules, administrative liability is provided in the form of a fine of up to 20 basic units, and for each illegally extracted crayfish, damage caused to the environment in the amount of 1.5 basic units is recovered.
In case of illegal crayfish extraction during the prohibition period, the damage caused to the environment is calculated at triple the rate.