A fishing vessel is one used to harvest aquatic bioresources, not merely to catch fish. Fishing is tightly regulated: a permit for special use of aquatic bioresources, a quota, the area and season, permitted gear, catch reporting, sanitary and customs documents for the product. Breaching any of these conditions stops the voyage and costs more than the catch itself.
Fisheries law is one of Svarog’s specialisms. We work both with fishing companies (permits, quotas, inspections, contracts, detained vessels) and with crew members who have not been paid or who were dismissed unlawfully.
What we handle
Permits and quotas
- obtaining and renewing permits for the special use of aquatic bioresources;
- disputes over the allocation and reduction of quotas;
- challenging refusals, suspensions and revocations of permits;
- registering a vessel in the State Ship Register, changing owner, flag or port of registry.
Inspections and detentions
- support during inspections by the State Fisheries Agency and its regional offices;
- detention of a vessel by the border guard’s maritime service for fishing outside the permitted area;
- seizure of catch, gear and vessel, and their recovery;
- administrative offence cases and charges of illegal fishing (Art. 249 of the Criminal Code).
Contracts and cargo
- sale and purchase of vessels and fishing equipment, checking encumbrances before the deal;
- charter, supply, repairs, bunkering;
- disputes over quality and shortages, spoiled catch after refrigeration failure;
- customs disputes and insurance claims.
Crew
- recovery of unpaid wages;
- unlawful dismissal, disputes under contracts;
- compensation for injury on board.
Permits and quotas: where disputes arise
Special use of aquatic bioresources requires a permit issued by the State Fisheries Agency under the procedure approved by Cabinet of Ministers Resolution No. 801. The permit is tied to a particular vessel, area, species, gear and season, and the volume is capped by a quota.
The most frequent conflicts:
Refusal to issue a permit
Formal grounds such as an incomplete document pack or a discrepancy in the vessel’s details are cured by filing again. But where the authority relies on circumstances the procedure does not provide for, the refusal is challenged in an administrative court (Art. 19 of the Code of Administrative Procedure).
A reduced quota, or none at all
What matters here is arithmetic, not indignation: how the allocation methodology was applied, whether the company’s catch history was taken into account, whether other applicants were assessed on the same basis. We obtain the comparative figures from the agency through lawyer’s requests before filing.
Suspension or revocation of a permit
A revocation usually follows an inspection, so the defence is built from that inspection’s materials: was the procedure followed, was the breach recorded correctly, is the sanction proportionate to it.
Catch reporting
Discrepancies between the logbook, the report and the actual weight landed are the classic basis for allegations of illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. Such allegations are answered only by documents drawn up at the time, not by explanations after the event.
A detained vessel: what to do in the first hours
- Record the grounds. Insist on a document stating why the vessel was stopped: fishing outside the permitted area, prohibited gear, exceeding the quota, missing documents on board.
- Do not sign the report in silence. You are entitled to add written comments and point out discrepancies in the coordinates, the time and the weight of the catch.
- Preserve the technical data. The logbook, monitoring system records, coordinates, photographs of the gear and catch. What is not recorded during the inspection is almost impossible to prove later.
- Call a lawyer before the first explanation. A master’s statement given “so they let us go sooner” works against the owner later in the case.
- Deal with the property separately. A catch spoils quickly, so the question of selling or returning it is raised immediately, not after the case is decided.
Crew: employment disputes
Employment on ships under the Ukrainian flag is governed by the Labour Code; on ships under a foreign flag, by the contract, the law of the flag state and any collective agreements that apply to the vessel.
Typical situations: several months of unpaid wages, an employer registered abroad, a dismissal recorded as “at the seafarer’s own request” without any such request, an injury on board never recorded in a report. In each of them the first evidence is the contract, the crew list, the payslips and the correspondence, so we advise keeping them separately from the ship’s papers.
Claimants seeking wages pay no court fee (Art. 5 of the Law “On Court Fees”). Where the debtor is a foreign owner, arresting the vessel for a maritime claim often works better than a claim: crew wage arrears are precisely such a claim. More on this: maritime lawyer.
A case from our practice
In 2025 a fishing company came to us whose vessel had been detained by the maritime border service for allegedly fishing outside the permitted area, while the regional fisheries office simultaneously started revoking the permit. We obtained the vessel monitoring data and compared it with the coordinates in the report: the discrepancy arose because what had been recorded was a period of drifting with the gear raised, not fishing at all. We added an extract from the logbook and the master’s explanations, this time drafted with a lawyer. The court closed the administrative offence case, the company kept its permit, and the vessel returned to fishing in about three weeks. The work cost the client 35,000 UAH. (details changed)
Deadlines people forget
How we work
- We analyse the documents: the permit, the quota, the logbook, the inspection report, the protocol, the crew contracts.
- We draft objections to the inspection report or protocol while the deadline is still open.
- We handle inspections and dealings with the fisheries agency, customs and the border service.
- We recover property: the vessel, the gear, the catch or its value.
- We challenge decisions in administrative courts and run commercial disputes under contracts.
- We protect the crew: wages, reinstatement, compensation for harm.
Cost of services
Court fees in 2026: a non-monetary administrative claim costs a company 3,328 UAH and an individual 1,331.20 UAH; a monetary administrative claim by a company is 1.5 % of the value but not more than 33,280 UAH. A commercial contract dispute costs a company 1.5 % of the value, from 3,328 to 1,164,800 UAH. Seafarers pay no fee in wage claims, and filing through the Electronic Court reduces the rate by 20 %.
Questions and answers (Fisheries law)
How long is there to challenge a ruling on breaching fishing rules?
Ten days from the date of the ruling (Art. 289 of the Code of Administrative Offences). Check the penalty deadline separately: two months from the date of the offence, or three where a court hears the case (Art. 38). If that period has expired, the ruling must be set aside regardless of everything else — and a noticeable share of cases closes on exactly that point.
The catch and gear were seized. Can they be recovered?
A catch that spoils quickly is usually sold before the case is heard, so the fight is over its value: if the case is closed, we claim the money. Gear and equipment are returned by court decision where no confiscation is applied, or after the ruling is set aside. We apply for the return of property immediately, without waiting for the case to end.
The agency cut our quota, or gave us none. What can be done?
First we obtain the calculation through a lawyer’s request: which methodology was used to allocate the volumes, how your vessel’s catch history was taken into account and how much other applicants received. If there is a departure from the procedure or unequal treatment, the decision is challenged in an administrative court with a request to order a reallocation. The deadline to apply is six months.
Can a fishing vessel be arrested for debts?
A vessel is arrested in port only to secure a maritime claim: crew wages, collision damage, port dues, debts for bunkers, repairs or supplies. An ordinary commercial debt unconnected with operating the ship is not enough. The application goes to the commercial court at the port and is decided without summoning the parties.
We are buying a second-hand fishing vessel. What should be checked before the deal?
The entry in the State Ship Register and whether it matches the contract, the validity of class and ship’s documents, any mortgage or other encumbrance, any arrests, and debts to crew and ports. The last is more critical than it seems: such debts are maritime claims, and a new owner risks the ship being arrested after the purchase.
The vessel is in a foreign port. Can the case be handled remotely?
Yes. You send documents as scans, we sign the engagement electronically, and the power of attorney is certified at a Ukrainian consulate or by a local notary. Steps requiring presence in the foreign jurisdiction are taken by a local lawyer, while we prepare the evidence, agree the position and run the Ukrainian part of the dispute.
Contact Svarog about fisheries law
Send us the documents: the permit and quota, the inspection report or protocol, the logbook, the crew contracts or the vessel contract. We will check whether the procedure was followed, calculate the deadlines for objections and appeals, and propose a plan with the cost of each stage.