General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China: "Promote the recuperation of grasslands, forests, rivers, lakes and wetlands, and implement the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River."
The rushing Yangtze River nourishes the people on both sides of the river, bringing infinite vigor and vitality.
The ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River is an important decision made by the Party Central Committee and the State Council for the sake of the overall situation and for future generations.
In order to protect and restore the ecological environment of the mother river, from January 1, 2020, 332 nature reserves and aquatic germplasm resources protection areas in the Yangtze River Basin will completely ban productive fishing; The ten-year fishing ban has been fully launched.
The provinces and cities along the river and relevant departments have strengthened overall coordination, detailed policies and measures, and consolidated the responsibility of the main body, and solid progress has been made in various tasks.
How effective is the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River?
What is life like for retired fishermen?
How can ecosystems be ensured to rest and thrive?
Our reporter conducted interviews on these issues.
--editor
To protect and restore the ecology, the "picture of birds and fish having fun together" has become a common sight
"Look, finless porpoise, finless porpoise!"
In the "Finless Porpoise Bay" by the Yangtze River in Junshan District, Yueyang City, Hunan Province, following the whistle of patrolman Zhou Huijun, the Yangtze finless porpoise jumped up from time to time on the river.
Zhou Huijun is a patrolman at the Lingelao Monitoring Station in the East Dongting Lake Nature Reserve. He is deeply concerned about every plant, tree, bird and animal in the "Finless Porpoise Bay".
When patrolling, Zhou Huijun liked to whistle. Unexpectedly, as time went on, the Yangtze finless porpoise would jump out of the water as soon as it heard his whistle.
Zhou Huijun told reporters that "Porpoise Bay" used to be called Hualong Wharf. It was a sand and gravel transfer and mixing field. Noise, dust, and water pollution had a negative impact on the ecological environment of the Yangtze River.
In 2017, Yueyang fully implemented the special rectification of the Yangtze River coastline, the comprehensive management of Dongting Lake's ecological environment, banned the illegal sand and gravel wharf in Hualong, and carried out regreening.
From January 1, 2020, 45 aquatic life protection areas in Hunan Province will fully implement a year-round fishing ban.
From January 1, 2021, key waters such as the southern section of the Yangtze River and Dongting Lake will implement a ten-year fishing ban as scheduled.
"In recent years, with the great protection of the Yangtze River and the deepening of the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River, the water quality of the Yangtze River has become better and better, and there are more and more finless porpoises in this area!" Zhou Huijun said, "When the river water warms up in spring, we can often see porpoises here." What about the scene of 'finless porpoise worshiping the wind'."
The ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River is an extraordinary initiative, and it is also a key move to implement the comprehensive protection measures of the Yangtze River Economic Belt and reverse the deterioration of the ecological environment.
All regions and departments have taken the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River as an important political task. Local governments have implemented their main responsibilities, and relevant functional departments have cooperated closely to promote the fishing ban to achieve important phased results.
In Sanjiangkou, Yibin City, Sichuan Province, the "Picture of Birds and Fish Having Fun" has become a common sight - the red-billed gulls migrated from Siberia, and groups of fish also came to the head of the Yangtze River to swim and play, and the citizens fed them one after another , man and nature live in harmony and enjoy themselves.
Tang Shengrong, an assistant fishery patrol officer of the Agricultural and Rural Bureau of Cuiping District, Yibin City, said that in the past two years, there have been more and more fish in the river. In addition to grass carp and carp, there are also rare fish such as rock carp and mullet.
Yi Yanrong, deputy director of the Fishery Supervision and Management Office in the Yangtze River Basin of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, said: "By implementing measures such as the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River and strengthening the protection of aquatic organisms, the sharp decline in the aquatic biological resources of the Yangtze River has been initially curbed, showing a gradual recovery trend. A good trend. The Chishui River, which took the lead in piloting a complete ban on fishing, has doubled the amount of resources before the ban, and the number of unique fish species has increased from 32 to 37. After 30 years, the Yangtze River Anchovy once again migrated upstream to Dongting Lake waters."
The preliminary results of the Yangtze finless porpoise scientific investigation carried out from September to October 2022 show that the population status of the Yangtze finless porpoise is gradually improving, and finless porpoises have been found in some previously blank areas such as the Wuhan section of Hubei and the Nantong section of Jiangsu. The distribution of populations is more continuous. In some waters, a single group of Yangtze finless porpoises has reached more than 60, and the number of mother and offspring has increased significantly, which indicates that the population of finless porpoises will continue to grow in the future.
Realize resettlement guarantees and continuously improve the employment stability of retired fishermen
The ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River is a major adjustment in the relationship between man and nature.
General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized: "The fishing ban on the Yangtze River does not mean throwing fishermen ashore and leaving them alone. The relevant work must be done carefully and concretely, and more employment channels and public welfare posts should be developed so that fishermen can live stably and become rich."
Early in the morning, wearing a helmet and a vest, Tang Shengrong came to patrol the line from Hejiangmen to Zhongba Bridge in Cuiping District, Yibin City against the cold river wind.
51-year-old Tang Shengrong and his father were both fishermen.
After the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River was launched, Tang Shengrong became one of the retired fishermen.
Tang Shengrong had some concerns about leaving his familiar business.
Later, when she learned about the background of the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River and the policy of returning fish to the shore, and then thought about the embarrassment of her family's fishing in recent years, the number of fish has been getting smaller and smaller, and the knot in her heart was slowly untied. "The Yangtze River is our The river, the mother river, has nurtured us, and we should protect her well. Green water and green mountains will definitely bring gold and silver mountains!"
In July 2020, Yibin City completed the withdrawal task of 630 fishing boats and 1,186 fishermen five months ahead of schedule.
Tang Shengrong and her husband Ma Yongjiu became fishery administrators to assist patrol officers, and fishers became "fish protectors".
Fishermen's livelihoods are stable, and fishing bans can be stabilized.
All localities have carried out entrepreneurial and employment skills training for fishermen who have landed ashore, and provided various resettlement positions.
For older fishermen, subsidies and purchases of social security are provided to help them grow old.
At 5 a.m. in Yunji Community, Yunji Street, Hengnan County, Hengyang City, Hunan Province, Liu Yuqing, a retired fisherman, got up in the dark, boiled water, marinated meat, and cooked vegetables, and was about to open for business.
This "Brine King" restaurant in the county seat has been open for 3 years.
Three years ago, Liu Yuqing, who had been fishing for more than 30 years, bid farewell to the old days of "floating on the water" and started a new life.
"In the past, fishing in the Xiangjiang River depended on the weather, and the income was not stable," Liu Yuqing said.
In 2020, the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Hengnan County held cooking skills training courses for retired fishermen, and he actively signed up to participate.
Back then, Liu Yuqing opened this restaurant with 45,000 yuan in compensation from fishing boats and fishing gear, plus some of his savings.
Now the small shop is doing well, with an annual income of more than 100,000 yuan.
"Opening a shop is quite busy, but as long as I have time, I will go for a walk by the river." Liu Yuqing, who is in his early 50s, has fully adapted to his new life. There are also more prawns, and we are really happy from the bottom of our hearts.”
Unlike Liu Yuqing, who started his own business, Liu Chunming, a retired fisherman in Yunji Street, got a job as a security guard in the Xiangjiang Tugutang Navigation Power Project.
At the same time, Liu Chunming made use of his expertise in being familiar with the river waters and joined the local river inspection team near his workplace to regularly patrol the river.
To implement the fishing ban on the Yangtze River, the focus is on the resettlement and security of fishermen.
Yi Yanrong said: "Learning from the experience and methods of poverty alleviation, we have accurately identified and registered 231,000 retired fishermen, implemented classified policies, and targeted assistance. Development of industries resettled a group, and resettled a group of migrant workers. Support start-ups and resettle a group of people, and help and resettle a group of them, so as to ensure that fishermen can retreat and live stably."
At present, more than 160,000 retired fishermen who need to change jobs in 10 provinces and cities along the river have been helped as much as possible, and more than 220,000 retired fishermen who meet the insurance conditions have been covered as much as possible.
"According to what we know, the employment stability of retired fishermen is constantly improving, and they are generally satisfied with the resettlement security," Yi Yanrong said.
Maintain high pressure and strict control to ensure that the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River is "bearable"
It was just dawn, and Ma Mingsuo put on a thick padded jacket, rode an electric bike, and started a day of patrolling the river with his teammates.
"Twice a day, each trip covers more than 20 kilometers, and sometimes patrols by boat." As a member of the fish protection team of Xuba Township, Yi'an District, Tongling City, Anhui Province, Ma Mingsuo's job is mainly to prevent people from poaching in the Yangtze River.
In order to protect the fish resources of the Yangtze River, Tongling City established a professional fish protection team mainly composed of retired fishermen.
After selection, Ma Mingsuo became a member of the fish protection team. "Which area of water is poaching frequently, which time is easy to commit crimes, and what signs indicate poaching and poaching? Our experienced fishermen are experienced and more efficient in protecting fish."
Strict law enforcement and supervision is an important guarantee for the "tolerable" fishing ban on the Yangtze River.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in conjunction with public security, market supervision and other departments, deployed a special rectification campaign to combat illegal fishing and crack down on market sales of illegally caught catches. By organizing synchronous law enforcement in river basins, a closed loop of law enforcement was formed with strict crackdown on the water, strict management on the shore, and strict market inspection. .
Joint law enforcement in transboundary waters.
Ma'anshan City, Anhui Province and Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province started from the cooperation and co-management of the ban on fishing and established a joint law enforcement mechanism based on the fishery administration training of the two places. Improve ability and level.
Technology helps weave a "surveillance network".
There are 13 cities and prefectures and 68 counties and cities in Hunan Province that have completed the construction of smart fishery administration platforms, and initially built a multi-dimensional intelligent perception high-altitude video surveillance system, using thermal imaging high-altitude observation and face recognition as the main detection methods, and paying equal attention to civil air defense and technical defense .
Societal forces are involved.
Wuhan City, Hubei Province has formulated rewarding measures for reporting illegal and criminal acts of illegal fishing, strengthened social supervision, increased the enthusiasm and initiative of the masses to participate in the supervision of fishing bans, and guided the Yangtze River Rescue Volunteer Team, ecological and environmental protection volunteers and other social forces to participate in patrolling, internal and external linkage, Group defense and group governance.
The reporter learned from the inter-ministerial Yangtze River banning and retreating work team that the special team organized and carried out 7 joint patrol inspections. The fishery administration, public security, market supervision and other departments in various places continued to strengthen daily law enforcement supervision, and a total of 1.73 million law enforcement personnel were dispatched. Person-times, 18,525 violations of laws and regulations were investigated and dealt with.
"All departments maintain a high-pressure and strict management posture, forming a strong deterrent force, so that the order of the ban on the Yangtze River is generally stable." Yi Yanrong said.
"The 10-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River involves a wide area, many management objects, and strong policies for the resettlement of retired fishermen. It is long-term, complex, and arduous. Although important phased results have been achieved, there are still some difficulties and problems. For example, the employment placement of retired fishermen needs to be consolidated, there are many illegal fishing cases and hidden dangers, and the aquatic life protection system is not perfect enough.” Yi Yanrong said.
In the next step, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs will work with relevant departments and provinces and cities along the river to fully implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, strengthen problem analysis and judgment, focus on finding jobs, guide the development of agriculture, animal husbandry and fishery, and expand employment channels for secondary and tertiary industries. Further strengthen the bottom line of social security, and continuously improve the resettlement guarantee measures for returned fishermen; continue to deepen the special crackdown on illegal fishing and market sales of illegal catches, strengthen the law enforcement and supervision of prohibition of fishing; increase the protection and restoration of rare and endangered species and their important habitats , strengthen the investigation and monitoring of aquatic biological resources, promote the implementation of the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River and the evaluation of the integrity index of aquatic organisms into the scope of inspection and assessment such as the central ecological environment protection inspection and local government performance evaluation, and compact the main responsibilities of local governments at all levels And its related departments are responsible for industry service supervision to ensure that the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River is stable and far-reaching, and has achieved solid results.
(Reporters Kou Jiangze, Chang Qin, Wang Yunna, Song Haoxin, You Yi)