<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="1" > preface</h1>
Growing in a saltwater lake, resembling a carp but without scales, it was once eaten as food and is now a protected animal
Carp has always been a very unpopular fish in the southern region of our country.
Although not all southerners do not like to eat carp, the vast majority of people do not have a good feeling for carp. Some people would rather eat silver carp than carp because the carp has a heavier muddy taste and too many spines than silver carp.
In addition, the saying that carp is a "hair object" is widely spread in the south, so the favorability of this fish in the minds of southerners has been greatly reduced.
However, the variety of carp is diverse. In the south, there is a carp, a carp endemic to Qinghai Province to be precise, that looks exactly like a carp, but does not have a single piece of scale.
And this carp grows in a very special environment, it is a fish that grows in a saltwater lake. In the last century, it was also heavily fished for food, feeding millions of people. But now, it has become a national second-level protected animal.
If you have been to Qinghai Lake, you should know that this is the local naked carp of Qinghai Lake.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="31" > an introduction to the naked carp in Qinghai Lake</h1>
From this name, it can be seen that this fish is a fish endemic to China, and it is also a specialty of Qinghai Province, which is only found in Qinghai Lake.
The naked carp of Qinghai Lake looks very similar to carp, with a spindle-shaped body shape, a blunt and rounded head, but it does not have the characteristic whiskers of carp on the mouth. And this fish does not have a single piece of fish scales on the whole body, because it is a scaleless fish. Because of these characteristics, it was named Qinghai Lake Naked Carp, which was also called Huangyu and Pomfret in ancient times.
According to archaeological findings, the naked carp in Qinghai Lake actually had fish scales at the earliest time, and the reason why they are somewhat similar to carp is because they all have a common ancestor - the Yellow River carp.
It is only because of geological movements that Qinghai Lake has become an isolated lake, and over time it has evolved into a saltwater lake. In order to adapt to the gradually salty lake water, the ancestor of the naked carp in Qinghai Lake, the Yellow River carp gradually degraded its scales in the process of tens of thousands of years of evolution.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="32" > once produced tens of thousands of tons a year and saved millions of people "with fish as food"</h1>
As the largest saltwater lake in China, Qinghai Lake is also quite rich in aquatic resources. In ancient times, it has been rumored that Qinghai Lake has two treasures: one is the naked carp and the other is the bird. According to local records, the record of naked carp in Qinghai Lake has existed more than 200 years ago, and it is also pointed out that this is a fish endemic to Qinghai Lake.
Don't look at the qinghai lake naked carp is not big, not very conspicuous, but its flesh is thick, and the taste is quite delicious, and because it is a scaleless fish, it is also very easy to process. In the past, it has always been a fish that locals love to eat.
It is eaten fresh, can also be processed into dried fish, smoked fish, or fish pine, etc., the way to eat is very diverse, and also a little famous, many foreigners come to the local tourism, will also be specially tasted, or take it back as a specialty.
Especially in the 1960s and 1970s, because Qinghai suffered a rare famine in many years, food was seriously insufficient, in order to fill their stomachs, many local people went to Qinghai Lake to catch naked carp to fill their hunger. At its peak, tens of thousands of catties of naked carp were fished a year, and it was also because of the naked carp in Qinghai Lake that most of the Qinghai people were fed.
Listening to the older generation of local people, in the past difficult era, it was relying on the naked carp in Qinghai Lake to fill the stomach and supplement nutrition, and it can be said that this carp is indispensable.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="33" > is now a protected animal</h1>
However, the result of a large number of fishing is that there are fewer and fewer naked carp in Qinghai Lake, and although the annual fishing plan was later formulated, from tens of thousands of tons to thousands of tons per year, the number of naked carp has not been significantly restored.
In order to protect this only economic fish in Qinghai Lake, it had to be listed as a protected animal in 1994, and in 2004 it was included in the Red List of Chinese Species and was also listed as an endangered species.
From tens of thousands of tons per year in the past, to now rely on protection, why has the number decreased so much at once? On the one hand, this is due to the large number of fishing in the early years, which led to a large decrease in the population of naked carp in Qinghai Lake.
The second aspect is that the naked carp is a migratory fish, which spawns in freshwater rivers and lakes, and will not swim into Qinghai Lake until the small fish grow up. However, in recent years, many places have barraged the river, resulting in the obstruction of the migration of naked carp.
The third aspect is that naked carp grow very slowly, and it takes many years to grow up and reach sexual maturity. In addition, due to global warming in recent years, local rainfall is relatively low, and the water level of Qinghai Lake is also declining, while the salinity and alkalinity of the water are rising, and the changes in these factors have posed a great threat to the survival of naked carp.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="34" > concluding remarks</h1>
However, it is fortunate that in recent years, due to proper protection measures, through the implementation of the work of fish breeding in the closed lake, the population of naked carp in Qinghai Lake is gradually recovering under the continuous efforts of people.
Especially in recent years, it has begun to bear fruit, and the number of fish in the river is getting more and more every year. Especially during the spawning season, you can easily reach out and touch the naked carp of Qinghai Lake in the river.