Abstract: The article deals with the peculiarities of legal regulation of the use of aquatic biological resources by small indigenous minorities of the Russian Federation. The legal status of indigenous minorities is analyzed, and it is also noted why the indigenous minorities of the North, Siberia and the Far East of the Russian Federation have a special position in the field of traditional fishing. The author considers the problematics of the rights and obligations of the peoples of the North in relation to the extraction of aquatic biological resources. Special attention is paid to modern legislative gaps existing in this sphere. The main ways of solving the identified problems are defined and the effectiveness of existing legislative acts is evaluated. The author analyzed the draft law No. 309477-8, designed to amend the Federal Law “On Fishing and Conservation of Aquatic Biological Resources”. The main conclusions of the study are, formulated by the author proposals to improve the legislation, as well as the problems of legal regulation in this area discovered by him. The author proposed the introduction of the term “traditional fishing” into the Law on Fishing. In addition, the application procedure for obtaining quotas for traditional fishing was identified as one of the main problems of small indigenous minorities of the North in their fishing. The author identified the need to detail the draft law No. 309477-8 in terms of the implementation of the new mechanism in practice, especially with regard to fixing the volume of catch of aquatic biological resources and the gear used for their extraction. The study revealed the expediency of providing representatives of indigenous minorities of the North with preferential quotas for economic activities in order to develop entrepreneurial activity in their environment.

Keywords: traditional natural resource use, aquatic resources, traditional fishing, legal regulation, fisheries, government regulation, aquatic biological resources, peoples of the North, indigenous, indigenous minorities