The man was detained for five months after catching a cochineal fish

Rare and endangered wild animals are a precious natural resource of the country, which not only has important economic value, but also has important cultural value, social value and even political value. Any illegal hunting of rare and endangered wild animals, resulting in the endangerment of rare and endangered wild animals under key national protection, has seriously violated the state's protection and management system for wildlife resources and should be severely punished by law.

In May last year, the Yuhuatai District Agricultural and Rural Bureau received reports from the masses that someone had carried out illegal fishing in the Nanjing Yangtze River Finless Porpoise Provincial Nature Reserve and the Yangtze River Dashengguan Long-Snout CopperFish National Aquatic Germplasm Resources Conservation Area, and the fishery administration law enforcement personnel and the Jiangning Police Station of the Nanjing Branch of the Changhang Public Security Bureau quickly attacked and arrested the suspect Sun Mou who was committing illegal acts on the spot at the mouth of the Qinhuai New River, seized 2 three-layer gill nets and 1 single-layer gill net of the crime tools, and illegally caught 28 freshwater fish in the Yangtze River, including 1 cochineal fish.

After identification according to law, the operating tools used by Sun Mou were identified as prohibited fishing gear, and the cochineal fish caught was a national second-level key protected wild animal. Sun Mou used prohibited fishing gear to illegally hunt 1 national secondary key protected wild animal rouge, violating the relevant provisions of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, and his behavior has constituted the crime of illegal hunting of rare and endangered wild animals, and the Changhang police have taken criminal compulsory measures according to law. On August 11, 2020, the Nanjing Xuanwu District People's Court convicted Sun of illegal hunting and killing rare and endangered wild animals in accordance with the law, sentenced him to five months' detention, fined him 3,000 yuan, and confiscated the tools of the crime.

The cochineal fish in this case, also known as yellow row, blood row, etc., belongs to the national second-class rare protected fish, growing in the Yangtze River water system, the cochineal fish has a high dependence on the wild water environment, and is a key protected aquatic wildlife in the Yangtze River Aquatic Biological Conservation Area. The punishment of such criminal acts in accordance with the law has sounded the alarm bell for the public to prohibit the hunting and eating of aquatic wild animals on the Yangtze River, demonstrated Nanjing's determination and strength to strictly crack down on illegal fishing activities in the Yangtze River Basin, and invited citizens to consciously abide by laws and regulations, love wild animals, resolutely resist illegal hunting and eating wild animals, and must not take chances to try the law.

Source: Nanjing Daily