Dazhi Lake, also known as Source Lake, is located in the southeast of Dazhi City, Huangshi City, Hubei Province.
According to historical records, there were gold mines hidden at the bottom of Dazhi Lake in ancient times, and there were gold panning wells dug by gold diggers in the lake, so it was called "Golden Lake" in ancient times on the mainland.
Dazhi Lake is 67.2 kilometers long from east to west, 1~3 kilometers wide from south to north, with a catchment area of 1,106 square kilometers, an average water depth of about 16 meters, and a maximum water storage capacity of 50 million to 200 million cubic meters.
Dazhi Lake
There are a variety of aquatic species inhabiting Dazhi Lake, including shrimp, loach, yellow eel, soft-shelled turtle, catfish, herring, Wuchang fish (bream), grass carp, silver carp, angsting, mandarin fish, as well as various crustaceans and shellfish and other aquatic animals.
However, a group of lawbreakers actually frantically fished 2.7 million kilograms of snails in the lake, and the amount involved was as high as one million yuan.
The ringleader involved in the illegal fishing of snails
So, why can't wild snails be fished, and what is the role of snails in the water?
01
It all started one year ago.
One day in May 2023, a group of mysterious people often appeared in the waters of Dazhi Lake.
At this time, it was the fishing ban period in the lake, and all productive fishing was prohibited, and the group was neither fishing nor fishing, but eyeing the snails in the lake.
The lake surface of Dazhi Lake is wide, the soil at the bottom of the lake is fertile and the silt is deep, and the organic matter content is abundant, which is especially suitable for the growth and reproduction of snails, so the lake is rich in snails.
After this group of people set their sights on the snails in Dazhi Lake, they fished snails through machines and produced a large amount of snails, making huge profits in this kind of "no capital trading".
Persons involved in illegal snail fishing
On May 29, the Daye Lake Water Police Station received a report that someone was illegally fishing, purchasing and selling snails in Dazhi Lake, which amounted to a huge amount, which attracted the attention of relevant departments.
The investigation found that in just a few months, this group of people made illegal snail fishing into an industrial chain, and some people even "earned" more than 100,000 yuan in three months.
After several months of investigation, it was finally determined that a total of 55 people were involved in the illegal fishing of snails in Dazhi Lake, of which the amount involved was as high as 5,000,000 yuan.
"On April 11, 2024, after the court's presentation of evidence and cross-examination, courtroom debate and other trial sessions, defendants Wang, Wang, Zou, Hu, Chen, and Chen confessed to the facts of the crime. Combined with the facts of the case, The court made judgments on the spot, sentencing defendant Wang to three years imprisonment, suspended for three years and six months, and fined 5,000 yuan; Chen X A was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a three-year suspended sentence and a fine of 4,000 yuan; Wang X was sentenced to three years imprisonment with a three-year suspended sentence and fined 4,000 yuan; Zou X was sentenced to two years and five months imprisonment, suspended for two years and six months and fined 3,000 yuan; Hu X was sentenced to two years and four months imprisonment with a suspended sentence of two years and six months and fined 3,000 yuan; Chen X B was sentenced to two years and two months imprisonment with a suspended sentence of two years and six months and fined 3,000 yuan。 ”
Subsequently, the people involved in the case returned 1.82 million yuan for the ecological restoration of Dazhi Lake, and purchased about 300,000 catties of fish fry and put them in 5 batches to Dazhi Lake.
The compensation was refunded to purchase fish fry and put them in Dazhi Lake
02
Wild snails have been banned from fishing
There is such a saying in the folk circulation, "Qingming snail, race fat goose", snails after a winter fattening, snail meat is full and fat, this is the peak season to eat snails.
The snail is a mollusk, don't look at its size, but it tastes extremely delicious, known as "river fresh".
The snail is one of the most common aquatic animals in the field ditches in the countryside, and it is also a seasonal dish on the table of ordinary people, which can be seen everywhere in the rural ditches.
On February 2, 2021, the mainland has included snails in China's "List of Wild Animals under National Key Protection", so that wild snails are prohibited from fishing during the fishing ban period and in the fishing ban area, otherwise they will be punished.
Anyone who violates the relevant regulations will face criminal penalties, including but not limited to fixed-term imprisonment, criminal detention, surveillance or fines.
Snails
03
Learn about snails
Are snails and snails the same animal? Answer: Snails and snails are two kinds of animals.
Margarya melanioides: Margarya melanioides is a mollusk that inhabits freshwater and has snail shells.
The distribution of snails in mainland China is extremely wide, mainly distributed in Jiangsu, Anhui, Zhejiang, Fujian, Hunan, Hubei, Henan, Hebei, Jiangxi and other provinces and municipalities directly under the central government.
Snail
These include large river waters, as well as large lakes, reservoirs, swamps, rivers, ditches and farmland, all of which are found and inhabited by snails.
The habitat of snails changes depending on the environment, and snails that inhabit lakes, paddy fields, and ditches usually gather in shallows and environments with a depth of about 1 meter and a lot of silt.
Snails that live in reservoirs, rivers, etc., tend to attach to dams, rock piles, bridge piers, and dead shrubs that fall into the water.
Snails
The reproduction method of the snail is to fertilize the female snail, the embryo develops in the belly of the female snail, the female snail can carry about 10 eggs at a time, and the young snail can be produced from the mother snail after it grows and matures.
The most suitable temperature for snail growth is 20~27 degrees Celsius, snails are growing all year round, and young snails can reach maturity after a year of growth.
04
What does a wild snail do
When it comes to how to eat snails, everyone may be able to name a few, but when it comes to the role of snails in natural waters, most people may not know.
The snail is an omnivorous animal that feeds mainly on the tooth tongue and, in addition to filtering plankton from the water.
In natural waters, snails feed mainly on plant shoots that grow in water, and also like to feed on various algae and organic detritus in water bodies.
The role of wild snails in natural waters is to regulate the balance of the water ecosystem, and the snail has the effect of purifying water quality, which can quickly decompose the debris precipitated at the bottom of the water and prevent the water from deteriorating, discoloring and smelling.
Wild snails in Dazhi Lake are fished in large quantities, and the organic detritus in the water body is not fully decomposed, which will soon lead to water quality deterioration, so snails are one of the important benthic animals in freshwater ecosystems.
05
Analysis of the reasons for the decline of wild fishing snails
- overfishing
Many people don't seem to know much about the overfishing of snails, which are usually picked up by hand by the river, and a person can pick up a maximum of dozens of catties a day.
If you use a pocket net to climb and catch snails in the water, it is more efficient than hand checking snails, and it is possible to catch dozens of catties a day, and hundreds of catties more.
Hand-harvested snails
However, a small and medium-sized mechanized snail fishing vessel can suck up more than ten or twenty tons of wild snails from the surface layer of sediment at the bottom of the water in one day.
As the saying goes, "People die for money, birds die for food!"
The purchase price of wild snails per ton is about 400~600 yuan, which is a "no-capital transaction" and high return profits, resulting in a large number of wild snails being overfished, and even some people are still taking risks.
Professional snail suction boat
- environmental pollution
With the rapid development of the economy, factory sewage and domestic sewage have destroyed the ecological balance, although snails can purify water quality, but industrial wastewater pollution is the Achilles heel of snails.
At last:
After the snail was banned from fishing, many people were concerned about whether the snails in the ditch near their homes could be fished and eaten.
In fact, as long as it is not in the prohibited waters and during the fishing ban period, it is understandable to catch some snails for home consumption, and illegal fishing of snails refers to more than 500 kilograms.
Those who do not sell for profit are generally not punished, and of course, catching snails and selling them in the vegetable market may constitute a crime.
But then again, although the snails are delicious, they are very troublesome to deal with, and they are not delicious with a mouthful of mud and sand.
It's better to spend some money and buy some processed ones in the market, at least when you eat them, you don't have to be afraid!
(Note: snails are forbidden to be fished, no bad guidance!)