China-Singapore Jingwei, August 29 (Wang Yuling) Recently, a "strange fish" called the alligator gar appeared in Beijing, Ruzhou, Henan, Qingdao, Shandong, Yinchuan, Ningxia, Kunming, Yunnan and other places.

In some places it has to be fished by draining the lake, etc., at a very high cost.

　　Sino-Singapore Jingwei noticed that alligator gars are still being bought and sold on e-commerce platforms, with prices ranging from 25 yuan to 600 yuan. Many people left a message in the product comment area saying that "releasing life is a sin".

　　The lawyer told Sino-Singapore Jingwei that if a merchant sells exotic species on the platform, the platform should supervise whether the merchant has fulfilled its obligation to remind consumers, that is, when selling, it is necessary to remind consumers not to release or discard them without authorization, and inform them of relevant legal responsibilities.

"Strange fish" appeared in many places and was arrested for 45 days

　　According to media reports, on July 13 this year, a citizen of Ruzhou, Henan found a "strange fish" suspected of being a crocodile gar in the waters of Yunchan Lake.

　　On August 27, the Ruzhou city park management said in an interview with the media that two "strange fish" had been caught. They were confirmed to be an alien species of alligator gar, and the park management had made them harmless. deal with.

　　The local use of large-scale throwing net fishing, sonar positioning, and large-scale seine baiting and trapping have all found nothing.

In desperation, Ruzhou City began to use water pumps and other facilities to drain the lake water in Yunchan Lake on July 26. The entire Yunchan Lake has 200,000 to 300,000 cubic meters of lake water. ".

　　What is the origin of the "strange fish" caught at such a high price locally?

　　The data shows that the alligator gar is native to North America and has appeared on the earth for more than 100 million years. It is mainly distributed in the Great Lakes Basin of North America (Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario), as a large carnivorous. Ferocious fish, alligator gar prey includes a variety of fish, crustaceans, amphibians, birds, small and medium-sized mammals, etc., and eat almost everything, so it is called "killer in water".

　　To China, the alligator gar is an exotic species.

In the past month, in addition to Ruzhou, Henan, Beijing, Shandong Qingdao, Ningxia Yinchuan, Yunnan Kunming and other places reported the discovery of alligator gar.

Alligator gar still for sale online

　　Sino-Singapore Jingwei noticed that alligator gar is currently traded on the online e-commerce platform, and the price range is relatively large, between 25 yuan and 600 yuan, the price of juvenile fish is low, and the price of adult fish is high.

　　When Sino-Singapore Jingwei inquired as a consumer on the e-commerce platform, the merchant said that the creature could be 80 to 100 cm long and had higher requirements for feeding conditions.

The water temperature is between 5 degrees and 35 degrees, and it needs tap water, dechlorination, oxygenation, filtration, and eating small fish, shrimp, floating pellet feed and meat.

"Feed once a day, and the stomach is slightly raised," said the merchant.

　　At the same time, the product detail pages provided by many merchants stated that ferocious large fish cannot be released, and are only suitable for breeding and viewing in fish tanks at home.

However, alligator gar grows faster, and some people have insufficient breeding conditions, so they seek second-hand transactions on platforms such as Xianyu.

　　A seller who intends to sell the self-raised crocodile gar told Sino-Singapore Jingwei that the fish has grown to 60-70 cm, and the fish tank at home can't fit, so he seeks to sell it.

"As long as the water body is big enough, it can grow to three meters," the seller said.

　　In the comment area of ​​these sellers seeking to sell crocodile gar, many netizens have popularized the fish, saying that "release is a sin", which will cause a great degree of water damage.

　　This time, strange fish appeared in many places. Gu Dangen, a scientist in the National Bulk Freshwater Fish Industry Technology System for the Prevention and Control of Alien Species Invasion, said in an interview with the media that the crocodile gars that have appeared in many places recently can basically be judged as "artificial release".

　　"The crocodile gar is originally an ornamental fish. Even if the average citizen keeps one or two, because the crocodile gar grows so fast, the ordinary aquarium cannot keep it, and it is impossible for ordinary families to build an aquarium with a length of tens of meters. From the point of view of the consumer groups of crocodile gar, it is mainly raised by urban people, and the recently discovered crocodile gar is also in the city, mainly in parks, lakes, urban rivers and other places." Gu Dangen said.

How to take responsibility?

　　So, if the buyer releases the alligator gar, should the buyer, seller, and platform be held responsible for it?

　　For the platform, lawyer and well-known legal blogger Lei Jiamao said that the current law does not prohibit the breeding of crocodile gar, nor does it stipulate what qualifications are required for personal breeding and viewing.

If a merchant sells exotic species on the platform, the platform should supervise whether the merchant fulfills its obligation to remind consumers, that is, when selling, it needs to remind consumers not to release or discard it without authorization, and inform them of relevant legal responsibilities.

For example, the platform can require merchants to prompt and explain with eye-catching text on sales related pages.

　　According to Article 13 of the E-commerce Law, the commodities sold or services provided by e-commerce operators shall meet the requirements for safeguarding personal and property safety and environmental protection, and shall not sell or provide commodities or services whose transactions are prohibited by laws and administrative regulations. .

For buyers who release their animals without permission,

on August 1, 2022, China began to implement the "Administrative Measures for Invasive Alien Species" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Measures"), which clearly stated that any unit or individual shall not introduce, Release or discard foreign species.

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

　　Alien species here refers to species that have no natural distribution within the territory of the People's Republic of China, but are introduced through natural or man-made means, including all parts of the species that may survive and reproduce.

Invasive alien species refer to alien species that are introduced and colonized and threaten or harm ecosystems, habitats, and species, affect my country's ecological environment, and damage the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fishery and biodiversity.

　　Zhang Xiaoguang, a lawyer from Beijing Xinkai Law Firm, analyzed the Sino-Singapore Jingwei reporter that according to Article 344-1 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China

, illegally introducing, releasing or discarding invasive alien species in violation of state regulations, the circumstances are serious. , shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years or criminal detention, and shall be concurrently or solely fined.

So, should the alligator gar be recognized as an invasive alien species, and under what regulations should it be managed?

　　Sino-Singapore Jingwei noticed that the Ministry of Environmental Protection of the People's Republic of China released the "List of Invasive Alien Species in China" in four batches in 2003, 2010, 2014 and 2016, with a total of 71 species.

Alligator gars are not included in the above list.

　　In addition, Article 60 of the Biosafety Law, which came into effect in April 2021, stipulates that the State Council's agricultural and rural authorities will formulate a list of invasive alien species and management measures in conjunction with other relevant departments of the State Council.

However, so far, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has only mentioned in the "Work Plan for Further Strengthening the Prevention and Control of Alien Species Invasion" jointly issued by the five departments in January 2021, that it is necessary to strengthen the supervision of aquatic alien species breeding, and promote water hyacinth, Fushou snail, crocodile and crocodile. Integrated management of aquatic invasive alien species such as gar.

As a result, although the alligator gar has been recognized as an invasive alien species by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has not yet issued a list of invasive alien species, and there is room for ambiguity in its definition.

　　Lei Jiamao's analysis of Sino-Singapore Jingwei said that the crocodile gar is currently not included in the list of invasive alien species, but the introduction from foreign countries still needs to be approved, and those imported without authorization will be punished accordingly, and the relevant state departments have carried out activities including crocodiles. Census of alien species including gar.

In addition,

alligator gar is an alien species. According to the relevant provisions of the Biosafety Law and the Wildlife Protection Law, it cannot be released or discarded without authorization. A fine of not less than 10,000 yuan but not more than 50,000 yuan.

　　Finally, Sino-Singapore Jingwei noticed that after the alligator gar was found in many places, some e-commerce platforms took it off the shelves.

If the alligator gar is listed as an invasive alien species in the future, will the platform and the seller be held accountable?

　　In this regard, Zhang Xiaoguang analyzed that the principle of non-retroactivity of laws should be adhered to.

Under normal circumstances, the new law only has binding force on the behavior after its implementation, and has no retroactive effect on the illegal behavior before the implementation.

　　"In response to the occurrence of E gar in various places, the relevant administrative departments shall conduct timely monitoring and early warning, investigation and evaluation, and issue corresponding emergency response measures in accordance with the "Biosecurity Law", "Administrative Measures for Invasive Alien Species" and other relevant laws and regulations , to regulate the sales behavior of e-commerce operators, and e-commerce platforms and sellers should abide by them." Zhang Xiaoguang said.

(Sino-Singapore Jingwei APP)