Bring the Mother River back to life

Xinhua News Agency reporter Yu Wenjing Xin Zhiru

The Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese nation and has bred many endemic aquatic species. From April 1 to June 30 this year, the Yellow River implemented a fishing ban, the fourth year since it was launched in 2018. According to the regulations, in the main stream of the Yellow River, 13 tributaries and 3 major lakes, all types of fishing production operations are prohibited, and each province and region can appropriately expand the scope of fishing ban and extend the fishing ban period according to the actual local conditions.

Why is the fishing ban system implemented in the Yellow River? What is the current status of fish in the Yellow River? Does the ban on fishing affect consumers eating fish? For related hot issues, the reporter interviewed experts and relevant responsible persons.

A question: Why is the Yellow River fishing ban system implemented?

Yang Wenbo, deputy director of the Resources and Environment Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, said that the ecosystem of the Yellow River Basin is complex and changeable, and many unique aquatic species have been bred, but the overall aquatic ecosystem is also relatively fragile - the upstream fish are mainly split-bellied fish and loach fish, most of which are species living in alpine areas, with slow growth rate, relatively late sexual maturity, low fertility, and once destroyed, it is difficult to recover.

In the key life stages such as the brooding period and the larval growth period of aquatic biological resources, the implementation of fishing ban protection can greatly reduce the intensity of fishing and utilization, so that resources can be recuperated and replenished, which is conducive to the restoration of aquatic germplasm resources in the Yellow River and the improvement of aquatic biodiversity.

Yang Wenbo said that the implementation of the Yellow River fishing ban system is in line with the overall requirements of the current national ecological civilization construction, conforms to the development trend of aquatic biological resources conservation, and has important practical significance for maintaining the ecological security of national waters.

He said that in order to protect aquatic living resources, the implementation of a fishing ban system is a common practice in the world. Since 1995, China has generally implemented a marine fishing moratorium system in the four sea areas. Since 2003 and 2011, China has implemented a fishing ban period system in the Yangtze River Basin and the Pearl River Basin respectively. Practice has proved that good economic, social and ecological benefits have been achieved. The implementation of the fishing ban system in the Yellow River Basin is the general trend of the conservation and development of aquatic biological resources.

Second question: What is the current status of fish in the Yellow River?

Yang Wenbo said that after the former State Fisheries Administration organized the "Yellow River Water System Fishery Resources Survey" project in 1980, due to the lack of project funding support, there was no basin-wide systematic survey of fish resources in the Yellow River Basin for about 40 years, and systematic biodiversity survey data were lacking.

"Based on some surveys carried out by some scientific research units at different times, in different river sections and for different purposes, and based on the scattered survey data, we can draw a preliminary conclusion: the fish diversity in the Yellow River Basin has declined seriously, the catch in many sections of the river has shown a trend of young age and miniaturization, and the habitat status of important indigenous species and rare endemic species in the basin has been deteriorating." He said.

According to reports, the relevant literature shows that since 2007, the decline in fish diversity in the main stream and major tributaries of the Yellow River Basin is more obvious, and about 78 species of indigenous fish can still be collected in the multi-year survey, accounting for only 53.06% of the historical statistics, and nearly half of the fish can no longer be collected from the main water bodies of the Yellow River Basin; in 2008, the survey of the main stream of the Yellow River only recorded 54 species of fish, and mainly small fish.

Relevant surveys show that the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River are facing the dilemma of declining fish resources:

In 2007, a total of 16 species of fish were collected from the fish resource survey of the upper reaches of the Yellow River from Gongbo Gorge to Sigou Gorge, and from 2009 to 2013, a survey of the main stream above the Longyang Gorge of the Yellow River and its affiliated lakes showed that only 10 species of upstream indigenous fish could be collected.

Longyang Gorge to Liujiaxia Yellow River main stream, historically distributed at least 7 species of rare or endemic fish, such as spiny bass, thick-lipped naked heavy lip fish, polar-edged flat-throated tooth fish, bone-lipped Yellow River fish, Yellow River naked cracked fish, spotted naked carp, and loach-like catfish plateau, according to recent surveys, thick-lipped naked heavy-lipped fish, polar-edged flat-throated tooth fish, and bone-lipped Yellow River fish have basically disappeared from this section, and the distribution area has retreated upstream.

In the middle reaches, a survey of the Shanxi section from 2010 to 2012 found 42 species of indigenous fish.

The situation in the downstream main stream is the least optimistic. In 2013, a survey of 9 sections downstream found only 27 species of fish, accounting for 26.73% of the total number of fish downstream.

From the above, it can be seen that the Yellow River Basin urgently needs to strengthen the systematic investigation and scientific monitoring of aquatic biological resources and environment.

Three questions: What has been the effect since the implementation of the fishing ban period?

The relevant person in charge of the Fishery and Fishery Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that since 2018, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has organized the launch of the law enforcement of the Yellow River fishing ban period along the 9 provinces and regions of The Yellow River on April 1 every year; from the end of May to the beginning of June every year, 9 law enforcement working groups have been formed to organize and carry out inter-provincial fishery administration synchronous joint cross-law enforcement special actions in the whole Yellow River basin. Each year, more than 300 cases of violations of laws and regulations during various fishing ban periods are investigated and handled along the 9 provinces and regions along the Huanghuang, and more than 500 people are involved.

The awareness of environmental protection of the resources of the masses along the Yellow River is increasing. Along the 9 provinces and regions of Huang, in the bridges, ferries, highways and other locations, through the posting of fishing ban announcements, the production of publicity warning signs, hanging banners and other ways, to strengthen the intensity of publicity.

In recent years, the local ecological environment of the Yellow River Basin has gradually recovered, attracting many water birds to roost and forage. For example, the Yellow River flows along the section from The Slope of Shichi pond to Nancun, and flocks of herons inhabit freely. The ban on fishing has played a positive role in conserving the aquatic biological resources of the Yellow River, protecting biodiversity and promoting the construction of ecological civilization.

Four questions: Does the ban on fishing affect consumers eating fish?

The relevant person in charge of the Fisheries and Fisheries Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that statistics show that the annual catch of the Yellow River Basin is about 46,000 tons, the total annual output of freshwater aquatic products in China is more than 30 million tons, and the freshwater fishing output of the Yellow River accounts for less than 0.2%. The ban on fishing in the Yellow River will not have a greater impact on the supply of aquatic products.

According to a 2017 survey organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs along the Provinces of Huang, the number of professional fishing people in the Yellow River Basin was more than 20,000, about 15,000 people were fishing part-time, and nearly 20,000 fishing boats. The main species caught include carp, grass carp, crucian carp, silver carp, bighead carp, Lanzhou catfish, yellow jawfish, Chinese turtle, Chinese river crab and so on.

"The extremely low annual catch in the fishing industry shows that the Mother River really needs a period of recuperation." The person in charge said.

Five questions: Will the Yellow River be completely banned from fishing?

The relevant person in charge of the Fishery and Fishery Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said that in order to effectively protect the mother river, a total ban on fishing needs to be accelerated. The implementation of a comprehensive ban on fishing in the Yellow River involves a wide range of aspects and is difficult to implement, and there are still difficulties in the transformation of fishermen into production and the social security system.

At the same time, there are two problems in law enforcement, including the fact that the fishery administration law enforcement mechanism in some parts of the Yellow River Basin has not been straightened out after the institutional reform, the loss of fishery law enforcement personnel and the shortage of manpower; the poor basic conditions for fishery administration law enforcement, the serious shortage of law enforcement vehicles and boats, and the lack of relevant evidence collection equipment.

The responsible person said that in the next step, it is necessary to strictly implement the Yellow River fishing ban period system, strengthen the yellow river fishing ban and aquatic life protection publicity, improve the fishermen's awareness of resource protection; at the same time, the yellow river basin fishery resources, fishermen and fishing vessels and the construction of law enforcement teams will be thoroughly investigated, put forward opinions and suggestions on improving the yellow river basin fishing ban period system, and accelerate the introduction of relevant policies.

(According to Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, April 1)

Author: Yu Wenjing

Source: Shaanxi Daily