Fishing ban is just a slogan

According to a Yueyang County order, fishing has been banned on east Dongting Lake from March 10 to June 30 this year.

Indeed, no boats have been seen coming and going on the waters. The vast lake has remained calm. However, its surface is free of dangers to Yangtze Finless Porpoises.

A large number of bamboo poles are scattered over the lake, three or four meters above the water. Some stand in a line, while others are in a circle for large areas of closed waters.

"These are the 'mazes'," said fisherman He Daming, while directing the other fisherman to drive the boat among those bamboo poles. "These 'mazes' belong to different fishermen."

When the boat stopped before a line of bamboo poles, He and several other fishermen bent down and dragged out a fine-meshed fishing net, where he found countless fish and shrimp trapped.

Tied to the bamboo poles are not only ordinary fishing nets, but also long ropes with sharp hooks. "They are one of the most terrible killers," He said. Once they hit these hooks, finless porpoises will be unable to move and will likely suffocate to death.

This way of fishing requires a large investment, and it has been proven very effective. Such a "maze" of nets usually needs hundreds of thousands of yuan. But it will catch thousands of pounds of fish per night.

For those fishermen who have no funds enough for enclosure on the lake, they will take the risk of violating the law and depend on electrofishing. Aquatic animals cannot escape death if this equipment is used.

"There is a fishing ban every year, but it's never really been implemented." He Daming said.

According to He, more than 120 species of fish lived in Dongting Lake 30 years ago; however, no more than 10 commonly seen here now.

"Nowadays, species are facing severe extinction in Dongting Lake. We cannot allow those finless porpoises to starve to death," He said.

(China.org.cn by Wang Wei, June 25, 2012)

竭澤而漁禁令形同虛設

今年3月10日至6月30日是岳陽規定的東洞庭湖春季禁漁期。

確實，洞庭湖水域已經沒有了船只穿梭來往的景象，浩渺的湖面頓時回歸沉靜，但是江豚并沒有逃脫種種生命威脅。

洞庭湖里，露出水面三四米長的竹竿星羅密布，有的一字排開，有的繞著數百畝的水面圍成一個個封閉的水域。

“這就是‘迷魂陣’。”漁民何大明一邊指揮著另一位開船的漁民在竹竿間左右閃躲，一邊介紹道，“這些‘迷魂陣’分屬不同的漁民所有。”

船在一列竹竿前停下，何大明和同船的其他幾個漁民探下腰，一起順著竹竿撈起來一張網眼細密的漁網，無以數計的魚蝦立時活蹦亂跳。

綁在“迷魂陣”之間的除了普通漁網，還有很多長繩拴著的鋒利掛鉤。“這是江豚最大的殺手之一。”何大明說，江豚一旦撞上掛鉤就無法動彈，最終會窒息而死。

這樣的打魚方法投資不菲，但效率非常高。一個“迷魂陣”投資往往都在數十萬元，但一夜就能打到上萬斤魚。

沒有資本獲得圈湖資格的漁民就冒著違法風險選擇“電打魚”的辦法，設備所到之處水生動物幾乎一網打盡、無一幸免。

“年年禁漁，就沒有一年真正禁住過。”何大明一臉悲憤。

據他介紹，在30多年前，洞庭湖有魚類120多種，如今常見的只有10多種了。

“現在是洞庭湖物種大滅絕時代。”何大明慨嘆，“我們不能讓江豚餓死。”