Prohibition of fishing for all types of fish in wintering pits

During evolution, fish have adapted to significant changes in natural conditions. A reduction in daylight hours, a decrease in water temperature, a reduction in dissolved oxygen, and the scarcity or absence of food signal fish to prepare for wintering. During this period, the vital processes of fish, including metabolism, respiration, and response to stimuli, slow down.

In natural conditions, fish overwinter in designated wintering pits or in deeper sections of water bodies. Fish of usually the same species and age congregate in these areas, ensuring the most favorable conditions for wintering. Many species of thermophilic fish, such as bream, carp, and tench, gather in large schools and head to wintering pits.

During the winter period, the behavior of underwater predators also changes. For example, catfish, when ice covers the water body, hide in depressions, pressing themselves against the soft silt, and fall asleep, occasionally moving their fins and long barbels. Catfish often gather in wintering pits in quite numerous groups.

As a rule, the same "wintering pits" are used by fish annually. Their change occurs only in artificial water bodies with unstable levels (reservoirs, ponds).

Fish become easily accessible prey in wintering pits. In this regard, during the fish wintering period, additional protective measures are necessary to prevent their mass capture in "wintering pits." In accordance with the Rules of Amateur Fishing and the Rules of Fishery Management in the Fishing Grounds of the Republic of Belarus, the fishing of all species of fish in wintering pits is prohibited from October 1 to April 15.

The list of wintering pits is determined by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food jointly with the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus and is published on the official website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

        Please be advised that fishing in spawning pits during the closed season is subject to administrative liability under Article 16.25 of the Code of the Republic of Belarus on Administrative Offenses, with a fine ranging from 10 to 30 base units, and confiscation of fishing gear or other aquatic animal capture tools and other items used in the commission of the said violation. If the damage caused amounts to 100 or more base units, criminal liability under Article 281 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus shall apply.