Recently, the phenomenon of electric shock earthworms in many parts of the country has attracted attention.
A few days ago, a reporter from Chengdu Business Daily-Red Star News visited relevant counties and villages in Yulin City, Guangxi, and learned that wild earthworms have become rare after years of capturing.
Mr. Chen, a local buyer, recalled, "When I was a child, there were earthworms everywhere, and there were many under the moving stones. When Dilongyi was just used seven or eight years ago, some people could even power 1,000 jin per day, but now it can power 20 Jin is already very good." At the same time, the purchase price of dried earthworms has risen, from 40-50 yuan/kg seven or eight years ago to about 230 yuan/kg now.
Experts worry that if this continues, some species of wild earthworms may face extinction in the next few years, and the ecological damage may be irreversible.
Regarding the current situation that wild earthworms are facing "extinction" electric capture in some places, Dr. Zhu Jinfeng, a postgraduate tutor at East China University of Political Science and Law, said, "At present, earthworms are indeed not in the wildlife protection list, nor are they 'three animals' (Note: there are important ecological and scientific , terrestrial wild animals of social value). However, in some places such as Guangdong and Beijing, wild earthworms have been included in the scope of protection in relevant regulations. At present, the law enforcement in most places is mainly based on the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law". Those who install and use the power grid without approval, or install and use the power grid that do not comply with the safety regulations, shall be punished.”
At the regulatory level, experts believe that public security organs, ecological environment departments, forestry departments, and agricultural departments are all obliged to protect wild earthworms.
"The first case of electric earthworm machine" fell under the hammer
But more places are under weak supervision
At the end of July, during an interview in Luchuan County, Yulin City, Guangxi, the reporter found that many hardware stores in the county and townships were selling Dilongyi, and one of them also sold earthworm belly openers and electric fish machines.
The store owner said that the price of Dilongyi is between 1,200 yuan and 2,300 yuan, and the sales are OK.
On July 8, 2020, the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (hereinafter referred to as the Green Development Council) filed a public interest lawsuit against three companies of home appliance earthworm machines in Zhongshan City, Guangdong Province.
The CBCGDF believes that these businesses provide unspecified users with the opportunity to kill earthworms, destroying the ecological balance of the earthworm habitat soil, and excessive hunting of earthworms will also bring irreversible damage to the ecological environment. constitutes a violation of the environment.
On August 12, 2021, the Intermediate People's Court of Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province ordered three companies to compensate about 1.59 million yuan for economic losses, and published an apology statement on the national media.
On February 17, 2022, the second instance of the Guangdong Higher People's Court announced that the original judgment was upheld - this case is also known as "the first electric earthworm machine case".
The reason why the case was won in Guangdong is because Article 22 of the “Guangdong Province Wildlife Protection Management Regulations” passed in 2020 clearly stipulates that the use of electric shocks, electronic traps and other tools to hunt wild animals is prohibited, and no unit or individual may arbitrarily Manufacture and sale of the above hunting tools.
At the same time, it is stipulated that other terrestrial wild animals other than protected wild animals are also managed in accordance with the provisions of these regulations.
But in more places, the only legal basis currently applicable is the Public Security Administration Punishment Law.
In May of this year, the police in Dongchuan District, Kunming, Yunnan Province arrested 6 men who captured earthworms by electric wire, and confiscated more than 200 kilograms of wild earthworms at the scene. In the end, the 6 suspects were placed under administrative detention.
According to the police, the reason why these people call the method of electric catching earthworms is the extinction type, because this method indiscriminately harms the earthworms and the creatures in the soil, and greatly damages the local ecological environment.
At the scene, the police confiscated 4 sets of Dilongyi, the tools involved in the case, and released these earthworms.
A staff member of the Public Security Bureau of Dongchuan District, Kunming, Yunnan told reporters that the illegal act of electric shock to earthworms was discovered during the investigation at that time, but because earthworms are not protected animals, the relevant laws are not very sound, so according to the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law" in the private setting grid to handle.
"If the law has corresponding regulations on the large-scale capture and electric shock of earthworms, it will definitely play a positive role in protecting earthworms."
The reporter learned that the Kunming police's "Crackdown on Electric Shock Earth Dragon 2022" special operation has ended, but in the daily supervision, problems found will be dealt with seriously.
Why Electro-Capture Wild Earthworms
Repeatedly?
Earthworms play an important role in the ecosystem. Mass killing of earthworms not only easily leads to the extinction of a single species, but also inactivates the soil, affecting human life and the growth of other animals and plants.
So why is the electric trapping of wild earthworms repeated?
Is there a lack of market supervision?
Lack of relevant legal protection
When the reporter interviewed in Yulin City, Guangxi, they did not find any warning signs or propaganda slogans for catching wild earthworms by electricity.
Dr. Zhu Jinfeng, a postgraduate tutor at East China University of Political Science and Law and a lawyer from Shanghai Riying Law Firm, told reporters that earthworms are not in the "List of National Key Protected Wildlife" and "List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Ecological, Scientific and Social Value". There are no laws and regulations to protect earthworms because they have not been given the attention they deserve.
"However, Guangdong, Beijing and other regions have expanded the scope of wildlife protection. For example, Article 28 of the "Beijing Wildlife Protection Management Regulations" clearly stipulates: 'It is forbidden to trade shopping malls, supermarkets, farmers markets and other commodity trading venues, online trading platforms , for the illegal trading of terrestrial wild animals and their products, listed aquatic wildlife and their products, and food made from terrestrial wild animals and their products, listed aquatic wildlife and their products as raw materials. Trading services.'" Zhu Jinfeng said that according to the interpretation of Article 2 of the regulations, wild animals and their products include the whole (including eggs, eggs), parts and derivatives of wild animals.
That is to say, wild earthworms are also within the scope of protection of the regulations, and if the parties commit relevant illegal acts, they can be punished accordingly in accordance with the regulations.
However, in more places, only in accordance with Article 37 of the "Public Security Administration Punishment Law", "the installation and use of the power grid without approval, or the installation and use of the power grid does not comply with the safety regulations", the party concerned shall be punished with a fine of less than five days. Detention or a fine of not more than 500 yuan, if the circumstances are serious, shall be detained for not less than five days but not more than 10 days, and may concurrently be fined not more than 500 yuan.
In addition, if the person captures earthworms by electric shock, if the death of others is caused, such as the death of others due to the operation error of the Dilong motor, he may also be held criminally responsible by the relevant departments for the crime of "negligent death".
Facing Law Enforcement Difficulties and a "Tragedy of the Commons"
"We need to strengthen our understanding of the ecological value of wild animals, not to wait for legislation." Associate Professor Tan Baiping, director of the Department of Law, Department of Law, Beijing University of Technology, said that the biggest problem facing the ecological environment now is not that there is no compliance, but that there are laws that are not followed, Law enforcement is lax, and violations of the law are not corrected. "We should not wait for the phenomenon of electric shock to earthworms to solve the problem. Some of the damage to the ecological environment is irreversible, and some species of earthworms may be endangered." Tan Baiping believes that using "public security" It is really helpless to punish electric shock earthworms under the Management Punishment Law, but in fact, it is also possible, and there is no offside.
At the regulatory level, experts believe that public security organs, ecological environment departments, forestry departments, agricultural departments, market supervision and management departments, and customs are all obliged to protect wild earthworms.
"It's just that there are more departments involved, so it's blurred. If you catch it is yours, and I catch it is mine, then there will be a typical 'tragedy of the commons' in public environmental protection, and in the end no one (Management)." Tan Baiping said.
Expert comments
How can we better protect wild earthworms?
The medicinal value of wild earthworms has been in market demand from ancient times to the present, but we cannot "fish for fish" because of this.
The best way is to encourage farmers to breed and start farms after obtaining relevant permits.
At present, the protection of wild earthworms by laws and regulations is still in a state of absence, and it is often difficult to find a suitable legal basis to punish the parties when such behaviors as electric shock to earthworms occur.
The revision of laws and regulations should be accelerated, and the acts of destroying wild animals and plants should be incorporated into the provisions as soon as possible, so that there are laws to abide by.
Encourage farming instead of wild
It is understood that earthworms have good medicinal efficacy, and have very good effects on lowering blood pressure, activating meridians, diuresis, anti-cancer, relieving cough and relieving asthma, etc., and their nutritional value is also very high. It is a drug for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. one of the raw materials.
The currently prepared medicines include Lumbrokinase Enteric-Coated Capsules, Compound Dilong Tablets, Dilong Active Protein Capsules, etc.
During the interview, the reporter found that the wild earthworms purchased by Yulin Traditional Chinese Medicine Port eventually flowed to pharmaceutical factories all over the country.
Is it illegal for pharmaceutical companies to purchase wild earthworms?
Is there a substitute for the wild ground dragon?
It is understood that there are currently no laws and regulations in my country to regulate the large-scale use of wild earthworms in pharmaceutical factories.
Tan Baiping believes that the medicinal value of wild earthworms has been in market demand from ancient times to the present, but we cannot "exhaust the water and fish for it".
"The best way is to encourage farmers to breed and start farms after obtaining relevant permits. I think this method can replace wild earthworms for medicinal purposes. Of course, raising earthworms requires investment and patience, but electric shocks are not acceptable. continuous."
"Pharmaceutical companies must find out the source when using earthworms as medicine. If they use wild earthworms, I think it is at least immoral, and they have not assumed the responsibility of enterprises to protect the environment." Tan Baiping said that the food and drug supervision department should also strengthen Supervision to ensure that the source of earthworms must be legitimate. "If the pharmaceutical factory is using wild earthworms and they are electrocuted, they do not realize the importance of ecological civilization construction."
Improve laws and regulations for the protection of wild earthworms
Zhu Jinfeng said that at present, the protection of wild earthworms by laws and regulations is still in a state of absence, and it is often difficult to find a suitable legal basis to punish the parties when they encounter such acts as electric shock to earthworms.
Of course, in addition to wild earthworms, there are a large number of other wild animals that need to be protected, but are not currently included in the "List of National Key Protected Wildlife" and "List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Ecological, Scientific and Social Value", Such as fireflies, etc., this is not conducive to the orderly development of ecological balance.
For wild animals that are not included in the protected list, Zhu Jinfeng believes that the following measures can be taken to protect them: (1) Speed up the revision of laws and regulations, and incorporate the acts of destroying wild animals and plants into the provisions as soon as possible, so that there are laws to abide by; ( 2) Form a dynamic adjustment mechanism for the "List of National Key Protected Wild Animals" and "List of Terrestrial Wildlife with Important Ecological, Scientific and Social Value", speed up and simplify the procedures for adjusting the list, and ensure timely and effective protection; (3) Further Increase support for procuratorial organs and public interest litigation organizations in public interest litigation against acts of destroying wild animals and plants; (4) Public security, market supervision and management, ecological environment and other departments can form a coordination mechanism for wildlife protection, and strengthen information communication and protection. .
Chengdu Commercial Daily-Red Star News reporter Lu Yanfei, intern Zeng Yi