There is big money to be made from illegal cancer fishing. Police are expecting a poacher to come up with six-figure sums without major difficulties for a few weeks in late summer.

- It is really good money, you can get up to 300 SEK per kilo up in Stockholm, says Jani Hakala, responsible for the work against poaching at the Motala police.

- In this case, it is the professional fishermen who suffer, they face competition from people who do not pay tax.

The poachers count gold by breaking the rules for the number of permitted crayfish cages and by not respecting the times the cages may be out. Often, they lay out about 60 cages at a time, compared to the allowed six cages per person, and leave them outside the permitted fishing window for 48 hours during five weekends in August and September, according to Hakala.

- It could be the unemployed person who goes on a grant and who would like to increase his cash, or the pensioner who is not doing so well. Then there can be organized leagues with, I think for sure, that makes it their niche, says Hakala.

At the beginning of August 2018, the police raised an alarm that the poaching was increasing. But now it seems to have declined again, says Hakala, who is based on the assumption that police reports have been halved and that fishermen say they have noticed a reduction.

So far this year, the police have received 8-10 reports of poaching of crayfish in Vättern, which is halved compared to 2018. However, unlike last year, none of the reports have stopped anyone being prosecuted for the crimes.

- Usually we do not find the perpetrator behind the equipment, says Hakala.

- The chance is equal to zero to find them if there are missing names and phone numbers on the cages, he says.

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