How to protect the livelihood of fishermen after the ban
In December 2019, fishermen in the Honghu section of the Baiji National Nature Reserve in the new snail section of the Yangtze River in Hubei Province spontaneously removed the fishing boat license. (Profile picture)
In December 2019, 32 fishing boats in the Hewangmiao finless porpoise reserve in Jianli County, Hubei Province were demolished on site. (Profile picture)
The 10-year comprehensive ban on the Yangtze River Basin is self-evident for the protection of the Mother River’s ecological environment and the restoration of fishery resources. After the ban, a large number of fishermen have to go ashore to make a living. Therefore, proper resettlement after the fishermen go ashore is also related to the success or failure of the Yangtze River ban on fishing. Recently, a reporter from the Economic Daily went deep into the area along the Yangtze River to see how the fishermen’s resettlement policies were implemented and how the fishermen who spent a lifetime on the Yangtze River lived on the shore.
Chongqing:
"Change career" does not lose the old bank
Our reporter Ran Ruicheng Wu Lumu
One morning at the end of May, the sun shone and the mist on the Yangtze River gradually dissipated. "The weather is good today!" 57-year-old Liu Jiaxiang came to Qingling Wharf in Fuling, Chongqing early, and set off in a salvage boat.
Liu Jiaxiang is a native fisherman in Nantuo Town, Fuling District. He has been fishing on the Yangtze River for more than 40 years. Last year, after learning that the Yangtze River Basin was about to retire from fishing, he turned in a fishing boat to "wash his feet and go ashore." He was hired to join the Yangtze River Floating Team in Fuling District and was responsible for driving the floating boat. "Every day starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 7 p.m." Liu Jiaxiang said, except for the flood season and after the rainstorm, the daily cleaning period saw almost no trash on the Yangtze River, and the water environment was getting better and better. "I am happy to see my mother river become clean," Liu Jiaxiang said.
"We have been fishing for a lifetime, and we have feelings for the Yangtze River." Liu Jiaxiang said that in the past there were many types of fish in the Yangtze River, and the benefits of fishing are good. Now that the fish is less profitable, it is not as good as a year. It is really impossible to protect the resources of the Yangtze River. . "Although I can no longer fish, I also want to protect the river and the fish for the benefit of my children and grandchildren."
Fuling is located in the hinterland of the Three Gorges Reservoir area. The Yangtze River flow is 77 km and the Wujiang flow is 33 km. There are 35 first-level tributaries that flow into the Yangtze River. Among them, there are 12 rivers with a drainage area of more than 100 square kilometers and a natural water area of 268,000 mu. Fuling National Aquatic Germplasm Reserve, a 127-kilometer-long Chongqing section of the Yangtze River, occupies 70 kilometers of Fuling.
"Last year, Fuling District established the Leading Group for the Implementation of the Yangtze River Basin Prohibition of Capture and Establishment of Compensation System, formulated and issued the "Yangtze River Basin Prohibition and Establishment of Compensation System Implementation Plan" and organized the mobilization meeting for the withdrawal and conversion of production, as of November 2019 All 421 fishing vessels and 101 fishing auxiliary vessels in Fuling District were scrapped and dismantled, and 935 fishing and fishing crews were all withdrawn to shore." Liu Shunke, the head of Fuling District Fisheries and Fishery Station, told reporters that on January 1 this year, Fuling District The comprehensive prohibition of fishing in natural waters was officially launched. The restricted fishing area covers 12 important tributary waters such as the Yangtze River, Wujiang River, its rivers and Quxi River.
Like Liu Jiaxiang, many fishermen still work with fish after landing.
"Actually, I'm a fisherman now, but it's just a different way." Zhang Zhaoming, who lived on a fishing boat since he was a child, has been dealing with fish all his life. After retiring, the 50-year-old He opened an 18-square-meter store selling fish in Fuling City. What is different from the past is that Zhang Chaoming now sells not only river fish, but also reservoir fish such as grass carp, silver carp, and herring. "After the Yangtze River has been completely banned, the reservoir's ecological fish business is getting more and more popular." Zhang Zhaoming said with a smile, all the fish he sells are purchased from the surrounding districts and counties and neighboring provinces, and can sell more than 100 kilograms a day.
For the future, Zhang Chaoming also has his own plans. "In the future, if the business is doing well, consider contracting a fish pond yourself, learning some aquaculture techniques, developing fishery and other recreational fisheries while growing fish, and further expanding fish-related businesses." Zhang Zhaoming said, Although his career has just started, he is full of confidence in the market prospects.
When the fishermen switch to production and employment, the Fuling District Government actively provides guidance and assistance. "In order to allow fishermen to retreat, stay stable, and live well, we provide guidance and assistance in terms of employment and training. At present, the fishermen who have retreated to the shore have converted to employment for 651 people." Liu Shunke said that those who are willing to engage in leisure fishing Of fishermen will carry out skills training, entrepreneurial assistance and other services.
Hubei:
The fisherman becomes the fishman
Our reporter Liu Jie
Before dawn on May 26, Xie Shunyou wore "Yichang Yuzheng" overalls and came to the Linjiangping River section early, jumped onto the Yichang finless porpoise to assist the patrol boat, and sailed downstream...but now, he went down the river Not to fish, but to protect the fish.
"Since my grandfather's generation has lived on fishing, my father's five brothers are fishermen, and he has fed nearly 40 people." Xie Shunyou is from Wujiagang District, Yichang City, Hubei Province, and his family is on the Yangtze River. "The Linjiangping section was once one of the most concentrated areas of activity for finless porpoises, but since the late 1980s, finless porpoises have decreased significantly." Xie Shunyou said.
The finless porpoise is a barometer of the Yangtze River's ecology. The decline in the population of finless porpoise means that the fishery resources and biodiversity of the Yangtze River have been destroyed, and the ecology of the Yangtze River is in an emergency. In order to protect the ecology of the Yangtze River, fishing has been banned since 2002. In 2016, the state extended the ban period from 3 months to 4 months. "In 2008, two finless porpoises were found in the waters of the Rouge Dam" "In 2012, three finless porpoises were detected in the waters of the Rouge Dam" "In 2017, 17 porpoises were detected in the Yichang section"...The fishery department recorded these welcome changes.
From January 1, 2018, the Yichang Chinese Sturgeon Reserve took the lead in implementing a year-round ban on fishery in Hubei Province, and all fishermen engaged in fishing operations in the area went ashore for resettlement.
No longer a fisherman, why? In June 2018, the Yichang Municipal Fishery Supervision Detachment teamed up with the Yichang Straw Circle Eco-environmental Charity Center to apply for finless porpoise assistance patrol projects. It has hired 12 retired fishermen to join the work of patrolling the Yangtze River. The fishermen turned into fish-guards and established a team of assisting patrolmen.
After public selection by the fishery administration, Xie Shunyou joined the Yichang Fisheries Association patrol and became a "dolphin guard". "A monthly salary of 3,000 yuan is about the same as when I was fishing." Speaking of this job, Xie Shunyou was very satisfied: "Although we are amateurs, with our efforts, more and more people illegally fish and fish. not enough."
A total of 1,723 fishing boats in the key waters of the Yangtze River Basin in Yichang City need to retreat to shore. Up to now, the retreat has been completed and 70 shore patrol positions have been provided for the fishermen on shore. In addition to awarding a sum of money, Yichang City also supports social security and other aspects, provides fishermen with professional training in conversion, actively guides fishermen to switch jobs and start businesses, and effectively guarantees fishermen's basic livelihoods.
In order to increase income, in 2016 Xie Shunyou began to try to set up farmhouses during the fishing season. Due to lack of technology, the farmhouse has no special features and the business is not good. In the second half of last year, Xie Shunyou participated in the entrepreneurship training organized by the Yichang Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and renovated and upgraded his farm restaurant. The business gradually improved. Today, the farmhouse restaurant brings more than 80,000 yuan to Xie Shunyou every year.
It is understood that Yichang relies on 44 designated employment training institutions in the city to provide 50 professional training for fishermen onshore, such as forklifts, nursery nurses, and entrepreneurship, and provides employment introduction and career guidance for retired fishermen through employment assistance months and spring breeze operations. , Policy consultation, entrepreneurship guidance and other services to help 688 retired fishermen to achieve employment and entrepreneurship.
At the same time, Yichang also strictly implements the minimum security and temporary relief policies. Retired fishermen's families whose per capita income of family members living together are lower than the local minimum living standards and whose family property conditions meet the local regulations shall be included in the urban and rural minimum living allowances in accordance with the procedures.
Like Xie Shunyou, many fishermen left the boat and went ashore to start a new life.
Honghu is the seventh largest freshwater lake in China. In the past, the ecosystem was severely damaged due to a large number of seine farming and other reasons. At the beginning of 2016, the local government made great efforts to rectify Honghu Lake, "Honghu purse seine does not remain on one acre, there is no left bamboo pole, and all fishermen go ashore."
According to the survey report of the Honghu Municipal People's Political Consultative Conference, fishermen have “four hopes” to settle down ashore: living in a house, working in a job, medical care and social security can be implemented.
There are 789 2803 fishermen in Honghu City, and Chen Yuxiang is one of them. Using house purchase subsidies, poverty alleviation and relocation compensation and government acquisition of fishing boats, Chen Yuxiang bought a house of 128 square meters. Lao Chen has a stable income of more than 3,000 yuan per month. His lover has another job, and his two children go to school near the community. After the implementation of the family's medical insurance and social security, the life is booming. After the remediation, the water quality of Honghu Lake also improved significantly, from the original category Ⅴ, inferior category Ⅴ to category Ⅲ.
"For fishermen who are willing to go ashore to buy a house, we subsidize 70,000 yuan per household. On this basis, subsidies will be granted to the purchase-restricted area (25 square meters per person), plus fishermen’s compensation, to ensure that each household can buy on the shore. Affordable housing." Relevant staff of Honghu City Housing Construction Bureau told reporters.
He Jinlong, head of the Qianjiang Fishery Bureau, said that the city built 3 fishermen’s homes for 236 fishermen, and sold them to them at a price of 900 yuan per square meter to ensure that each fisherman can pass the arrest subsidy. Affordable housing. "The municipal human resources department specially organized two job fairs, and 422 fishermen also participated in pension insurance."
"Jiayu County's prohibition of compensation and conversion training started at the same time, through vocational training, public welfare posts and other channels to solve the problem of the way out after the fishermen landed." Shi Liuhua, deputy director of Jiayu County Agriculture and Rural Bureau said.
According to reports, the total number of aquatic life protection areas in Hubei Province accounts for 25% of the country's total, and the total length of the ban on fishing in the Hubei section of the main stream of the Yangtze River and the main stream of the Han River exceeds 2000 kilometers. The central government has adopted a combination of one-off subsidies and transitional subsidies to give appropriate support to the ban on arrests. Funds needed for temporary living subsidies, social security, vocational skills training and other related work for returning fishermen are mainly resolved by local governments in combination with existing policy funding channels.
At present, the cities along the Yangtze River in Hubei have formulated implementation plans according to local conditions. Through various methods such as financial subsidies, employment services, skill training, entrepreneurial support, and social security, the onshore fishermen should do their best to help, protect all, and stay in one household. Without leaving one person, help 37,700 fishermen go ashore as soon as possible, gain a foothold and seek development.