In the North Kazakhstan region, police have seized a record batch of brine shrimp Artemia salina, illegally harvested by poachers.
"Officers from the organised crime department of the North Kazakhstan Regional Police Department, in coordination with the regional prosecutor's office and jointly with servicemen of Group 'B' of military unit 6637, have stopped the illegal harvesting of brine shrimp Artemia salina on a record scale", reported Polisia.kz.
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For reference: Artemia salina is found only in salt lakes, where the salt content in the water is very high - from 10 to 300 grammes per litre. Therefore, its distribution across the planet is limited. It is found in Siberia, the Urals, Kazakhstan, and the USA. According to some data, the biological material of the shrimp is used by cosmetologists and doctors from China to produce unique products and preparations.
It has become known that on 13 August, in the Kyzylzhar district, police stopped a KAMAZ truck, from the back of which they seized 260 bags containing shrimp cysts (eggs). Another 242 bags were seized from a warehouse in the district centre of Beskol.
A 35-year-old resident of Petropavlovsk and a 29-year-old resident of the Taiynsha district were detained on suspicion of illegal harvesting of a natural resource. It is reported that both suspects had previous convictions for hooliganism and theft.
As officers from the organised crime department established, the shrimp were being harvested from Lake Kalibek, a salt lake in the Taiynsha district.
"The total weight of the seized Artemia salina cysts was 24 tonnes — this is the largest amount ever seized in the region. A pre-trial investigation is underway into the fact of illegal harvesting of fish resources, other aquatic animals or plants, and the necessary expert examinations have been ordered. According to Article 335 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan, the suspects face up to three years’ imprisonment", said the Deputy Head of the North Kazakhstan Regional Police Department, Askar Mukhametkaliev.
It will be recalled that in September of last year, in the North Kazakhstan region, the activities of a group of people who had organised the illegal harvesting of Artemia salina brine shrimp were stopped. Police seized more than 15 tonnes of the biological resource. The preliminary damage caused to the state amounted to 200 million tenge.