The reporter learned from the city park management of Ruzhou City, Henan Province on the morning of the 27th that the "strange fish" previously discovered by citizens in the waters of Yunchan Lake had been caught at 0:00 on the 27th and were confirmed to be two alligator gars.

The park management has treated it harmlessly, and arranged for personnel to professionally disinfect the lake area.

　　What is the "monster" of the "strange fish" crocodile gar?

Have you also been to Guangdong to "harm"?

How should it be caught and dealt with?

Can the public buy aquaculture?

How to deal with the encounter on weekdays?

Can I eat it after I catch it?

The reporter interviewed researcher Mu Xidong, director of the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences and the key laboratory for the prevention and control of alien invasive aquatic organisms of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.

Introduced as ornamental fish

"Top Freshwater Fish Killer"

　　Yangcheng Evening News: What kind of creature is the alligator gar?

Where did it grow up?

Why do we have to "go to hell" with it?

　　Mou Xidong: The crocodile gar, also known as the crocodile, belongs to the order gar, the family gar, and the genus of large gar. It is a large and ferocious fish, mainly distributed in the Gulf Coast from Mexico to the United States, the Missouri River and the Ohio River. Nicaragua, etc.

The alligator gar was introduced into my country as an ornamental fish, and it has achieved local breeding in Guangdong.

　　Known as the "top freshwater fish killer", the crocodile gar is extremely destructive and likes to live alone, with a ferocious nature and strong survivability.

Not only is its predation ability amazing, but its fecundity is equally amazing. Under the climate of Guangdong, after the sexual maturity of the alligator gar, the number of eggs that are conceived is often tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands, and the eggs are green and poisonous.

In addition, crocodile gar lacks natural enemies in our country, which will pose a great threat to indigenous fish. Once these crocodile gar or their offspring enter the natural waters, it will cause disaster to the fish community and affect aquatic biodiversity. It will bring serious impact and harm to the ecological security of waters, and pose a certain threat to the safety of residents.

　　Yangcheng Evening News: Why do alligator gars appear in many places in Guangdong?

　　Mou Xidong: Alligator gars are found in many places in Guangdong. Foshan, Shenzhen, Zhaoqing, and Shanwei have all appeared, especially in Guangzhou. In 2022 alone, two cases have been found in Baiyun District and the campus of Sun Yat-sen University.

The appearance of crocodile gar in many places in Guangdong is due to the prevalence of ornamental fish culture in Guangdong and the developed domestic and foreign trade in ornamental fish. It has been successfully bred locally after being introduced as an ornamental fish.

In addition, Guangdong has a subtropical climate, and alligator gar has no natural enemies locally, so it is suitable for survival.

Offal and fish eggs are poisonous

not edible

　　Yangcheng Evening News: What relevant laws are there currently in my country to manage such invasive alien species?

What are the consequences of abandoning the family?

　　Mou Xidong: In recent years, the state has attached great importance to the issue of alien species, and on April 15, 2021, the "Biosafety Law of the People's Republic of China" will be officially implemented, which stipulates the content of "preventing the invasion of alien species and protecting biodiversity" and requires the formulation of List of invasive alien species and management methods.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the Work Plan for Further Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Alien Species Invasion" (Nongke Jiao Fa [2021] No. 1) in 2021. Species census and monitoring and early warning, introduction management, prevention and control, and policies and regulations have been clearly stipulated.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Natural Resources, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, and the General Administration of Customs jointly issued the "Administrative Measures for Invasive Alien Species", which will also come into force on August 1, 2022. It is clear that no unit or individual may introduce, release or discard alien species without authorization. species.

Whoever introduces, releases or discards alien species without approval shall be punished in accordance with Article 81 of the Biosafety Law.

Those suspected of committing a crime shall be transferred to judicial organs for investigation of criminal responsibility according to law.

　　Yangcheng Evening News: What should be done after the alligator gar is found?

Some netizens joked that after they were caught, they had to "boil the pot and oil" to eat it. Can it be eaten?

　　Mou Xidong: If citizens find alligator gars in parks and other places, they should report them as soon as possible, and the local management department will catch them and remove them, and make them harmless.

At present, the capture of crocodile gar is still mainly based on physical control. It is recommended that the place where its traces are found to hire a professional team, and formulate a corresponding work plan according to the specific water body area for capture.

The captured crocodile gar can be made into specimens for popular science publicity, for public viewing, or buried for disposal.

　　As the country pays more and more attention to the management of alien species, it is now appealing to everyone not to raise large and ferocious species such as crocodile gar.

If citizens want to abandon their foster care after purchasing, they must not release them artificially. They can entrust universities, scientific research institutions, and relevant departments to deal with them.

Since alligator gar viscera and eggs are poisonous, it is not recommended for everyone to eat.

Guangzhou arrested three years ago

Specimens are now made

　　Yangcheng Evening News: Can you share your experience of catching crocodile gar?

　　Mou Xidong: I remember that when we dealt with the "water monster" incident of crocodile gar in Baiyun Lake in Guangzhou in 2019, we quickly formed a team and formulated 4 capture plans based on the scene of Baiyun Lake in Guangzhou.

After discussions with various management departments, it was finally determined that the plan was mainly based on the purse seine method + trawling method, supplemented by the throwing method.

The first catch was from cloth net to trawling, and it took 25,000 kilograms of fish to check one by one overnight. After 28 hours, I finally caught a 5 kilogram alligator gar around 7 a.m. in the morning.

　　However, we found that it was different from the "water monster" rumored on the Internet. For this reason, we continued to implement the fence in the unfenced area, and finally successfully captured the "bent over and arched" alligator gar with a length of 1.2 meters and a weight of 10 kilograms.

The two crocodile gars were brought back to the Pearl River Fisheries Research Institute at the first time for anatomical analysis and first-hand data.

Since then, the specimens of alligator gar have been placed in the Baiyun Lake Management Office for popular science publicity, reminding everyone not to release alien species at will.

invasive alien species

Systematic census nationwide

　　Yangcheng Evening News: How should we strengthen monitoring and management?

　　Mou Xidong: The alligator gar has appeared many times in natural waters across the country. Except for many places in Guangdong, it has been found in Guangxi, Zhejiang, Sichuan and other places, and there is an intensifying trend.

　　The "Administrative Measures for Invasive Alien Species" clearly proposes to carry out census and monitoring and early warning of invasive alien species. In 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and other departments will formulate the "Notice on Printing and Distributing the General Plan for the General Survey of Invasive Alien Species". Alligator gar is included in the national census of fish, leopard winged catfish, Managua cichlid, alligator gar, mosquito fish, scorpion, striped dace, snapping turtle, Brazilian turtle, bullfrog) .

　　In the future, a national census will be organized every ten years, a national invasive alien species monitoring network will be established, and regular monitoring will be carried out.

Secondly, to promote the management of invasive alien species, measures such as targeted fishing should be taken to prevent their further spread.

Third, improve policies and regulations, strengthen breeding management, and establish safe and reliable prevention and emergency measures.

Strengthen popular science propaganda, and strictly prohibit the release of human beings.

In short, the management of alien species is a systematic project that requires the efforts of the whole society.

(Reporter Chen Liang)