There is still a lot of illegal fishing during the fishing ban period of the Hulan River section of the Songhua River. After the promotion of China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF), the relevant departments of Heilongjiang Province have attached great importance. On May 21st, the protection action against illegal fishing and cleaning of illegal fishing gears, which was participated by the relevant regulatory departments and volunteers of Harbin City, was still carried out nervously in the Hulan River section of the Songhua River.

In mid-to-late May, the CBCGDF Research Department received reports from volunteers that the Hulan section and other sections of the Songhua River, as well as the sections of some wetland nature reserves, had found a large number of sneaky electric fishing boats, as well as various illegal fishing gears laid on both sides along the Songhua River.

To protect the aquatic resources of the Songhua River, CBCGDF volunteers have been insisting on cleaning up various illegal fishing gears. Until May 16, when the Songhua River entered the fishing ban period, this illegal fishing situation still exists. Moreover, the arrogance of those who have been engaged in electric fishing for a long time in the river is still rampant. Volunteers were also scolded and threatened by these illegal fishermen face-to-face while working with local law enforcement authorities.

On May 20th, in response to the illegal fishing phenomenon in the Songhua River during the fishing ban period, the CBCGDF sent a special letter to the government of Heilongjiang Province, requesting a thorough treatment of this extensive fishing, removing all illegal fishing gears in the river and along the riverbanks, and carry out a thorough investigation of the rental things. At the same time, the CBCGDF Research Department continued to support local volunteers and the fishery administration to carry out operations to clear illegal fishing gear in the river.

On the 21st, the fishery administration of Heilongjiang Province called the relevant departments of CBCGDF to express their gratitude to the volunteers for effectively enforcing the law enforcement of the fishery administration in the process of combating illegal fishing in the Songhua River. This issue of illegal fishing is highly valued. At the moment, in addition to the fishery administration, the agricultural, maritime, and market supervision departments of Harbin, as well as the corresponding street departments, will also mobilize to work together to resolve the current status of illegal fishing in the Songhua River.

At 4 a.m. on May 21st, the CBCGDF volunteers sailed into the Songhua River to assist the relevant departments in combating illegal fishing. Volunteers found four electric fishing boats that illegally fished early in the morning. Before the volunteers approached, these boats fled the scene in a hurry. After that, in the river section of a wetland nature reserve, the volunteers and the local supervision department again found a large ground cage net hidden in the water. Everyone dragged it from the river and saved the various trapped fish and clams in the cage and released then into the river.

Generally, the short length of the ground cage nets is tens of meters, and the long one is hundreds of meters long. In order to clean them up, volunteers and law enforcement personnel need to use a sickle to solve the problem.

On the day of May 21, according to the statistics of volunteers participating in the operation, a total of 10 large illegal fishing nets with a length of more than 1,000 meters were cleared from the river; 90 ground cage nets with a length of about 2,000 meters; other around 100 nets with about 1,500 meters long. All kinds of catches rescued and released from the net at the scene reached more than 2,000 jins.

This is the fifth consecutive day that the Hulan section of the Songhua River has cracked down on illegal fishing. It is hoped that in the later period, local departments can work together with volunteers to form a joint force, thoroughly investigate the causes, clean up illegal fishing gear, manage local illegal fishing practices, truly protect the wild aquatic living resources of Songhua River, and realize the sustainable use and development.

(Photo credit: CBCGDF volunteers)

Original Chinese article:

https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/vEy3Atq2Dc13SkSZeKwbRA

By / Maggie