Russian Far East border guards free illegally caught crabs

Border guards on Russia's Far East island of Sakhalin have released into the sea over 26 metric tons of live crabs from two vessels earlier detained for poaching, a border guard spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

YUZHNO SAKHALINSK, July 7 (RIA Novosti) - Border guards on Russia's Far East island of Sakhalin have released into the sea over 26 metric tons of live crabs from two vessels earlier detained for poaching, a border guard spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

"A total of 53,258 crabs were released into the sea. The prevented losses stood at more than 30 million rubles [$1 million]," the spokeswoman said.

She added that over 223 metric tons of live crabs and fish were released into the sea in 2009, preventing losses of more than 183 million rubles ($5.8 million). A total of 47 vessels were detained for poaching since the start of the year, 22 of them were flying a foreign flag.