The article examines the criminalistic characteristic of the offenders committing crimes related to the violation of the regulations governing aquatic biological resources. The author forwards a hypothesis that the understanding of the personality of the environmental criminals affects the clearance rate of this type of crimes, therefore, summing up the general data, it is possible to derive a portrait of a criminal, relying on a certain model typical for all criminals of a given category, taking into account three aspects - generalized, group and individual.
Based on the study, the author concludes that persons who breach protection of aquatic biological resources regulations are not typical, although they have common features that make it possible to classify the offender as a specific type of criminals and they are characterized by the inherent features of random criminals (first-time offenders as a result of coincidence), as well as unstable criminals (first-time offenders regularly evading social norms and previously committed offenses).
The author’s analysis of the judicial and investigative practice of violations of aquatic biological resources regulations shows that, as a rule, a person commits crimes without planning them in advance. A guilty person decides to commit a misconduct already in the process of his activity, which is due to the relevant conditions: lack of proper control by supervisory authorities, lack of knowledge of the operational situation at the current time, the need to shorten the time frame for the accomplishment of the work, the use of equipment in production that does not meet modern safety and environment requirements, etc.
The practical significance of the study lies in the possibility of applying knowledge about the personality typology of the subjects of violation of aquatic biological resources regulations in the preventive activities of the state bodies, in order not only to combat these violations, but also to prevent them.
