China News Service, Rugao, June 4 (Reporter Shen Ran) A man in Jiangsu split an illegally caught young Chinese sturgeon worth hundreds of thousands of dollars for cooking.

The trial judge introduced the case.

Photo by the People's Court of Rugao City, Jiangsu Province

　　This capricious "luxury" meal eventually resulted in him being sentenced to more than a year in prison and a fine of 20,000 yuan.

　　On the morning of June 4, 2021, on the eve of "World Environment Day", the Second Court of Environmental Resources of the Yangtze River Basin of Rugao City Court in Jiangsu Province sounded its gavel and opened a trial on a case involving Chinese sturgeon and endangering rare and endangered wild animals.

Chinese sturgeon is listed as a national first-level protected animal and was listed as a critically endangered species by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) in 2010.

(Data Map) Photo by Huang Zhigang

　　On that day, more than 4 million netizens watched the trial live online.

　　From early February to March 2021, the defendant Li Mouyi and his wife Qian Moumou and his helper Pan Moumou drove a fishing boat and a float raft to Lianxing, Qidong City without obtaining a special (concession) fishing license for eel fry In the waters near Hong Kong and Evergrande Port, 25 eel fry nets have been set up to illegally catch eel fry and other aquatic products.

The defendant knew that he had broken the law and would have to go to jail for one year after eating a "little fish".

Photo by the People's Court of Rugao City, Jiangsu Province

　　On the morning of March 6, the defendant Li Mouyi and others discovered that a Chinese sturgeon was caught while collecting eel fry.

The fish is wrapped in a long slender net tail, and the skin on the head is worn away.

Defendant Li Mouyi identified the fish as Chinese sturgeon, which is a national protected animal, but did not confirm whether the fish has died, and did not take any protective measures.

On the eve of "World Environment Day", the Second Court of Environmental Resources of the Yangtze River Basin of Rugao City Court in Jiangsu Province sounded its gavel.

Photo by the People's Court of Rugao City, Jiangsu Province

　　Subsequently, the defendant Li Mouyi phoned Wang Mousheng to help the sale, but was refused.

On the way back, Li thought that the Chinese sturgeon was dead, so he decomposed it, threw the fish head and viscera into the waters of the Yangtze River estuary, divided the fish body into several pieces and brought it back to the residence, and part of it was cooked and eaten.

　　It was identified that the fishing gear used by the defendant Li Mouyi illegally caught passive nets and was not selective to the fishing target; the minimum mesh size of the net bag net was 1.69mm/mesh.

The fish tissue species seized at his residence was Chinese sturgeon, and it was juvenile fish, about 5 to 6 years old, and the overall value was about 190,000 to 370,000 yuan.

　　During the trial, three expert witnesses appeared in court to explain and answer professional questions such as the living conditions of the Chinese sturgeon involved in the case and its ecological and scientific economic value, the extent of damage to fishery resources by fishing gear, and the management of the special licensing system for eel fry.

　　The trial judge believed that the defendant Li Mouyi had indirect intentions subjectively.

He knew that he had fished without obtaining a special fishing license, and his fishing behavior was illegal.

Knowing that the use of nets may cause the loss of other fishery resources, and is laissez-faire about the occurrence of harmful consequences.

Combining with Chinese sturgeon’s living habits and scope of activities, the defendant Li Mouyi’s illegal fishing in the waters involved in the case poses a greater threat to precious aquatic resources such as Chinese sturgeon and the Yangtze River and marine ecology; his actions have caused one The death of tail Chinese sturgeon not only caused serious damage to the Chinese sturgeon population, but also to the protection of biodiversity in the Yangtze River.

　　Taking into account that the defendant Li Mouyi voluntarily pleaded guilty and pleaded guilty during the review and prosecution stage and in the court trial, and signed a confession of guilty and punishing.

During the trial, the defendant Li Mouyi also voluntarily paid 30,000 yuan in advance for ecological damage compensation.

The court made a first-instance verdict in court, convicted the defendant Li for the crime of endangering precious and endangered wild animals, sentenced to one year and four months in prison, and fined RMB 20,000.

　　Popular science:

　　At present, the Chinese sturgeon is extremely small in its natural state and is endangered. It is known as the "living fish fossil" and "water giant panda". It is a first-class protected wild animal in my country and is extremely endangered.

Although the Chinese sturgeon in this case was caught in the sea, the location is very close to the Yangtze River estuary, and the Yangtze River estuary belongs to the confluence of seawater and freshwater, and is the only channel for mature Chinese sturgeon broodstock to enter the Yangtze River from the sea for reproduction.

As a large-scale river-sea migratory fish, Chinese sturgeon is an important link between the Yangtze River and the ocean for information and material exchange. The resource level of its population and the state of the wild population are a systematic manifestation of the ecological health of the Yangtze River and the ocean.

　　As a representative of the rare and endemic species of the Yangtze River, the survival of the Chinese sturgeon is of great practical significance for maintaining the aquatic biodiversity of the Yangtze River and implementing the "Yangtze River Protection" strategy.

　　Please do not illegally fish, injure, or eat these precious and endangered human "partners".

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