The transformation and adjustment of the wild animal breeding industry needs to be actively and steadily promoted
Under the ban, the farms face the embarrassment of not being sold or having to raise
□ Reporter Zhu Ningning
Wuyishan Kangyao Snake Breeding Co., Ltd. is the largest private enterprise of wild animal snake breeding and operation in Fujian Province. Its business scope includes snake domestication, breeding, retail, wholesale, snake culture display, viewing, and tourism. Among them, edible snake products account for about 90%, and medicinal snake products account for about 10%. On June 14, the relevant decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the enforcement inspection team of the Wildlife Protection Law came to this enterprise to learn about the situation.
Zhang Zhaokang, the person in charge of the company, is in his 40s and has been raising snakes for over 20 years. The technology of raising snakes is the fourth generation of his generation. Affected by the epidemic, the company has been in a state of suspension from the second day of the first month of this year. Not only has the factory been closed, but no one is allowed to enter. In February this year, after the "Decision of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress on Prohibiting Illegal Wildlife Trade, Eliminating the Abuse of Wild Animal Eating and Protecting People's Health and Safety" (hereinafter referred to as "Decision"), Zhang Zhaokang realized that his own The enterprise must be converted.
Zhang Zhaokang admitted that although it is very hard to raise snakes, he has been doing this for more than 20 years. Without any other labor skills, the company will face difficulties once the whole family closes. On the one hand, Zhang Zhaokang really feels that the protection of wild animals is and must be. The "Decision" is very necessary. He firmly supports it and will definitely switch to production. But on the other hand, he was reluctant, feeling that the business of keeping snakes could not be lost. Therefore, the initial plan is to want to be a research base for snakes, to help children understand the nature of snakes, to teach children how to prevent being bitten by snakes, and how to save themselves if they are bitten.
At present, the biggest problem he faces is how to properly handle various products according to law. "At present, the company still has 50 tons of various snake product stocks and more than 20,000 frozen snakes. These do not know how to deal with them. The next step is how to switch production, adjust in time, and change production and operation activities. We also hope that the government can Issue relevant policies as soon as possible to guide our farmers to transform and upgrade." Zhang Zhaokang said.
The problems faced by Zhang Zhaokang are not unique. It is understood that the wild animal breeding industry in Fujian Province has begun to take shape. There are 1,019 wild animal breeding farms of various types, classified according to the breeding purpose, 912 edible, 97 ornamental, 7 medicinal, 3 scientific research . The breeding farm (food) for food purposes involves a total of 29 species of animals, with a total inventory of about 20.6 million (the bulk breeding species include spiny-breasted frogs, snakes, etc.), and has more than 2,500 employees. Some farms are faced with pressures such as broken capital chains, inability to repay their debts, and feed supply cuts. In addition, crowded animals are occupying the breeding grounds, and the prospects for the breeding of four kinds of animals, such as bamboo rats, porcupines, civets, and snakes, are unknown. Such problems have exacerbated the anxiety of farmers. Therefore, the current main difficulty in implementing the "Decision" lies in the withdrawal of the existing legal farms into production.
It is worth mentioning that before the Fujian Provincial People's Congress Standing Committee conducted a law enforcement inspection of the Wildlife Protection Law, all localities generally reported that the current compensation, disposal, and conversion policies and measures related to farming enterprises that require transformation and adjustment have not been fully followed up in time. And it is clear that many farms are in an awkward situation where they cannot be sold, cannot be killed, and must be raised. The pressure on the farmers' funds is large, and the economic losses are also large, which brings unstable factors to the society.
"According to the catalogue of livestock, poultry and aquatic animals released by the state, we have carefully sorted out that 25 of the 29 animals cultivated for the purpose of eating can be transformed by incorporating into the management of livestock and poultry and aquatic animals according to law or guiding the adjustment of breeding purposes, etc. There are four kinds of animals that need to be withdrawn for food purposes: bamboo rats, porcupines, civet cats, and snakes. The four kinds of animals that are retired involve a total of 151 poor households with a registered card and an investment amount of about 3.72 million yuan." Fujian Province The person in charge of the Forestry Bureau said.
According to reports, in accordance with the "Decision" on supporting, guiding, and helping affected farmers to adjust and change their production and operation requirements, Fujian Province has been actively promoting farms to retire from production to jobs. Regarding the implementation of supportive policies, with the approval of the Fujian Provincial Government, the Fujian Provincial Forestry Bureau issued an implementation plan for the conversion of wild animal farms for food purposes for the purpose of edible wild animal farms in the form of a document of the joint meeting of the province on the protection of wild animals and the elimination of abuse of wild animals Implement 8 support policies including exit compensation, optimization of loan procedures to guide breeding adjustment, development of alternative industries, increase employment assistance, implementation of targeted poverty alleviation, enhancement of comprehensive utilization, and development of income-increasing channels.
It is reported that at present, all parts of Fujian Province are implementing support policies in accordance with the "one policy, one policy" to promote the farms to be standardized, stable, orderly, effectively retired from production and employees. As of the beginning of June, 120 farms have completed adjustment and transformation.