"Bad people" but the sale is not broken Many e-commerce platforms still secretly trade crocodile eels

Knowing that "the comers are not good" The business has not been broken

Some merchants in Jinan are still selling crocodile eel juveniles, and many e-commerce platforms are also trading in secret

Recently, the city central park of Ruzhou City in Pingdingshan, Henan Province, drained the lake water to round up the "strange fish" crocodile eel rushed to the hot search, and there were also traces of crocodile eels in many parts of the country.

Crocodile eel is a carnivorous fish, its body is huge, fierce, fast growth, large food, will prey on a large number of fish and other organisms, has a strong destructive ecology. Through an online onlooker, the harm of alligator eels has been widely known, but the reporter's investigation found that whether offline or online, there are still people who are buying and selling crocodile eels.

Some aquarium shops in Jinan

Alligator eels are still being sold

On August 29, the reporter visited a number of flower, bird, fish and insect markets in Jinan and found that the Jinan Hualong Aquarium Flower Culture Market and some aquarium shops near the Jinan Hero Mountain Cultural Market are still selling crocodile eel juveniles, with a body length of between 20 cm and 30 cm.

"A crocodile eel costs 80 bucks, and a slightly larger one costs 100 bucks." The owner of an aquarium shop in Jinan Hualong Aquarium Flower Culture Market pointed to the crocodile eel with a sharp mouth in the aquarium box and said, "They are all imported from the south, and some friends who like strange fish will often come to see." ”

When the reporter visited, it was found that the crocodile eels were raised in the fish tanks in the aquarium of the aquarium shop, and some stores cultivated many species of finches such as long-snout eels, short-snout eels and spotted gar eels, with a total of 20.

"Just feed them some fish and shrimp and all kinds of meat, and sometimes some fish feed." An aquarium shop owner said that considering the cost of feeding crocodile eels, they will not raise the eels too large, "the maximum can grow to 3 meters, we will also raise 20 or 30 centimeters."

There are three aquarium shops near the Hero Mountain Cultural Market, one of which sells crocodile eels. However, the alligator eel sold in the store is only 20 to 30 centimeters long.

Multiple e-commerce platforms

Still sold in secret

Not only offline, the reporter's investigation found that this crocodile eel, which can be called the "killer in the water", is still sold on multiple e-commerce platforms, and the price is low, and only 20 or 30 yuan can buy the crocodile eel juvenile fish.

An e-commerce platform called "Red Grid Aquarium" store, the sales page shows that the store crocodile eel monthly sales of more than 2,000, the price ranges from 15-300 yuan, mainly depends on the length of the crocodile eel, the longer the higher the price, 20 cm or less than 20 yuan can be obtained.

However, on the morning of the 29th, the reporter directly searched on these platforms with "crocodile eel", and there was no crocodile eel in the goods retrieved on the home page.

However, the reporter's inquiry of the historical search records found that the crocodile eel products previously found on some platforms were actually not removed from the platform and were still on sale. And when the reporter switches the other names of the crocodile gar, such as "ghost rocket" and "big gar", the crocodile eel for sale can still be directly retrieved.

Or because of the recent turmoil, these merchants who sell crocodile eels are more cautious in their sales. Some merchants have highlighted on the sales page the words "only for domestic maintenance, no release" and "ornamental use, no release" and so on. But at the same time, some merchants play slogans such as "countdown to the shelves, sold out" and "if you don't buy it again, you can't buy it" to stimulate consumption.

The reporter consulted the "red grid aquarium" as a buyer, and the customer service of the merchant first emphasized that "the release is illegal". Customer service said that the alligator eel bags sold in the store can grow to 80 cm to 100 cm when they reach home.

The reporter asked whether there was a risk in buying fish and sending express delivery in the near future, and the customer service responded: "Do not check." ”

The reporter saw that in the comment area of the store, a number of netizens posted the crocodile eels they bought. Some netizens said that their own crocodile eels doubled in size in one and a half months, and some netizens posted videos of crocodile eels preying on other fish in the fish tank, saying that "eating more than a dozen small fish a day", "too fierce" and "very fierce".

On the question page of the purchased netizens, many netizens questioned the illegality of raising crocodile eels, and several purchased netizens replied that "it is not illegal to release the product" and "if you don't want to raise it, you will deal with it yourself.".

In another shop that sells crocodile eels, "Fish Grass Muran", the reporter saw that the merchant also sells foreign fish species such as tiger striped dinosaur fish and tiger striped platypus. On the tiger striped dinosaur fish purchase page, merchants call it "ferocious carnivorous fish", mainly distributed in Senegal, Zambia and other places in Africa, and the adult fish can reach a length of up to 60 cm. On the tiger-striped platypus purchase page, merchants say that it lives in the Amazon River Basin, is very predatory, the larger the space, the faster the growth rate, and the adult fish can reach a maximum of more than 1 meter. Although the sales of these two fish are not as good as that of crocodile eels, some netizens also pay for it.

There is no explicit prohibition on sale

Release is expressly prohibited

If the crocodile eel is not good, why are there still people selling it? Is it illegal to buy and sell alligator eels?

The reporter learned in the interview that the current law does not explicitly prohibit the sale of crocodile eels, but the relevant legislation in our province has clearly prohibited the release of crocodile eels.

On July 9, 2021, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Shandong Province issued the Notice on Further Regulating and Guiding the Release (Breeding and Stocking) of Aquatic Organisms in Religious Circles on its official website, which clearly listed exotic species such as finches as prohibited species.

The notice pointed out that at present, the common exotic species in Shandong Province include Brazilian turtles, bullfrogs, turbot, tilapia, crayfish, South American white shrimp, mosquito-eating fish, leather beard catfish, Fushou snail, freshwater white pomfret, scavenger, large alligator turtle, small crocodile turtle, garnet and so on. At the same time, common improved species such as jian carp, Fu Rui carp, heterogeneous silver crucian carp, goldfish, and koi are also included in the strictly prohibited stocking species.

At present, the species that can be artificially cultivated and have been stocked in Shandong Province mainly include Chinese shrimp, three-wart pike crab, black seabream, Xu's flat catfish, Otaki hexaline fish, brown turbot, semi-slippery tongue fish and other marine species, as well as freshwater species such as silver carp, bighead carp and grass carp.

Pull it into the "blacklist"

Provide a basis for a ban on sales

Some insiders believe that it is precisely because the current law does not explicitly prohibit the sale of crocodile eels, which to a certain extent can not ensure that some people do not release and discard crocodile eels after purchasing them.

Recently, the crocodile eel was found in many places in China, the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute associate researcher, the national bulk freshwater fish industry technology system alien species invasion prevention and control post expert Gu Dangen explained that the crocodile eel was introduced as an ornamental fish, its special form satisfies the consumer's curiosity psychology, but the crocodile eel grows faster, many people will abandon it because they cannot provide enough space to raise it.

In response to this phenomenon, industry insiders suggest that the market sales management of alligator eels should be further evaluated, the sale of alligator eels should be prohibited, and market behavior should be further regulated.

The reason why the relevant legislation did not prohibit the sale of crocodile eels is because crocodile eels are not included in the List of Invasive Alien Species in China. The recent emergence of alligator eels has once again put the question of how to effectively prevent the invasion of alien species on the table. The reporter learned that from 2003 to 2016, the mainland has issued four batches of the "List of Invasive Alien Species in China", covering 71 species, including red fire ants and apple beetle moths that cause serious harm. Judging from the list, it is mainly concentrated on species that harm agriculture, and the alligator eel has not yet been included.

However, Gu Dangen, an expert on the prevention and control of alien species in the national bulk freshwater fish industry technology system, said in an interview with the media that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and other ministries and commissions will soon launch a new national key management of invasive species list, crocodile eel is expected to be included. Aquatic invasive alien species such as the Brazilian turtle, the alligator turtle, the "scavenger fish" (scientific name leopard winged catfish), and the Chisel's tilapia are also listed.

Once the alligator eel is included in the "blacklist" of invasive alien species, it will provide a basis for its ban on sale. Without a deal, crocodile eels may be difficult to do wrong.

(Reporter Cheng Lingrun, Du Yahui, trainee reporter Ji Menghe)

(Qilu Evening News)