A large-scale crack-down operation was launched in Laohekou and Gucheng sections of the Han River (Hanjiang) to resolutely combat illegal fishing activities that cause serious damage to the water resources of the river.

At the invitation of the government departments participating in the joint clear-up operation, the volunteers of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) participated in the whole operation.

It is understood that despite the bad weather and continuous rain on that day, a joint law enforcement team composed of the leaders of the Yangtze River Fisheries Administration Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the personnel from the Agricultural and Rural Affairs Bureau, the water police station, the fishery administration and other departments of Laohekou City and Gucheng County still braved the rain to enter the Han River and clear up a large number of illegal cage nets on both sides of the river.

The ground cage net is a common fishing tool used by the people. Its mesh is fine and the net is linked up. It is tens of meters long. After being submerged, it can catch all the fish and shrimp that enter the fishing net. The use effect of this fishing tool is similar to that of electric fishing, which is clearly prohibited by the Fisheries Law of China. It often causes serious damage to the local aquatic biological resources.

Since September this year, the volunteers of the CBCGDF have reported that due to the special geographical location of the two sides of the river and the weak law enforcement in local management, there have been a large number of illegal fishing in cages and nets, as well as the openly use of electric trawls, etc. in the Laohekou and Gucheng sections of the Han River.

Volunteers said that when the cage net was covered with the entire river, looking at it, there was a mineral water bottle on the surface of the Han River, where the foam blocks floated. It can be said that in this section of the Han River, this kind of illegal net is spread all over the water. Local fishermen have laid a vast net for aquatic organisms. Small fish and shrimp are doomed!

"Generally, this kind of cage will be placed in the water for a long time. Fishermen will collect the catch every 2-3 days, and then continue to cast the net until the cage needs to be repaired." The harm of the cage is very clear, once the fish, shrimp and crab enter, they will not escape at all. In addition, its destructive effect on aquatic organisms, the ground cage net also has strong concealment, which is very easy to cause long-term and permanent harm to aquatic organisms and resources. Therefore, many provinces along the river in China have listed it as illegal fishing, which is strictly prohibited.

In late September, with the help of volunteers from the CBCGDF, the heads of the Yangtze River Fisheries Administration Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs personally secretly visited along the Han River section, and held a special meeting on the spot, which eventually led to the large-scale clear up operation of Laohekou City and Gucheng County.

"We can save the Han River!" On October 11, Wang Xiaoyu, deputy county chief of Gucheng County across the river, led the team again to supervise and promote the clear up action. On October 13, He Jing, deputy mayor of Laohekou City, led the team for the second clear up action.

According to the estimation of on-site volunteers, it will take about three months to completely clean up the underwater cage and net in Laohekou and Gucheng river sections of the Han River, based on the number of tens of thousands of cages in this river section.

However, the action is the best protection. CBCGDF hopes that the Laohekou and Gucheng river section of the Han River will strengthen fishery law enforcement, combat illegal fishing, work with local volunteers to protect the mother river of the Han River, protect the aquatic biological resources of the Yangtze River, and contribute to the improvement and restoration of the aquatic ecology of the Yangtze River!

(Photo credit: CBCGDF)

Original Chinese article:

http://www.cbcgdf.org/NewsShow/4854/10130.html

By / Li Xue Modified / Maggie