Three Major Actions Boost Ecological Development in the Two River Basins
2015 Synchronized Enforcement Action for the Fishing Ban Period in the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers Launched
According to the regulations of the Ministry of Agriculture on the fishing ban period in the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, starting from 12:00 on April 1, the waters of the Yangtze River basin from below Gezhouba to the Yangtze River estuary and the main streams, important tributaries and lakes connected to the river in the six provinces (regions) of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan in the Pearl River basin entered the fishing ban period. Together with the upper Yangtze River section above Gezhouba, where the fishing ban began on February 1, the two river basins have now fully implemented the fishing ban.
The implementation of the fishing ban period system is an important part of the country's ecological civilization development and an important institutional safeguard for protecting water resource environments and supporting the sustainable economic and social development along the rivers. This year is the 14th year of implementing the fishing ban period system in the Yangtze River basin and the 5th year in the Pearl River basin. The fishing ban period system has played a very important role in conserving aquatic biological resources, protecting the ecological environment of the basins, expanding the social influence of aquatic biological resource conservation work, and cultivating water ecological culture.
To ensure the smooth implementation of the 2015 fishing ban period system in the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers and to consolidate and improve the ecological conservation results in the basin waters, the Ministry of Agriculture plans to organize the “three major actions” during the fishing ban period.
First, the synchronized enforcement action for the fishing ban in the two rivers. On April 1, the Yangtze River Basin Fishery Administration and Supervision Office of the Ministry of Agriculture organized 12 provinces (regions and municipalities)-Jiangxi, Guangxi, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Guangdong, Sichuan, Chongqing, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu and Shanghai-to carry out synchronized enforcement actions, requiring all localities to strengthen enforcement management during the fishing ban period, create a good atmosphere for the fishing ban work, and organize fishery administration vessels and enforcement forces to carry out enforcement inspections in relevant key waters and to clean up and ban prohibited fishing gear and illegal fishing.
⟦NL> Second, the joint enforcement action to clean up and rectify illegal fishing in the Shanghai section of the Yangtze River waters. From April 9 to June 30, the Ministry of Agriculture, together with the Shanghai Municipal Government, will organize fishery enforcement forces from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces and municipalities and join with maritime police, maritime authorities, public security and other departments to carry out a concentrated joint enforcement action to clean up and rectify illegal fishing in the Shanghai section of the Yangtze River waters, comprehensively cleaning up and banning prohibited fishing gear and “three-no” vessels engaged in illegal fishing in the Shanghai section of the Yangtze River waters.
Third, large-scale aquatic biological resource enhancement and release activities. During the fishing ban period in the Yangtze and Pearl Rivers, the Ministry of Agriculture will organize all localities to carry out large-scale aquatic biological enhancement and release activities, supported by strict enforcement management during the fishing ban period, to ensure better results in enhancement and release and ecological conservation, accelerate the restoration of aquatic biological resources, repair the water ecological environment, and safeguard water ecological security.
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture will also combine routine enforcement and management work such as environmental impact assessment of water-related projects and enforcement inspections of ecological compensation, compensation for damage to the ecological environment of fishery waters and accountability investigation, and supervision of the construction and management of protected areas, taking multiple measures and adopting a multi-pronged approach to comprehensively strengthen the development of water ecological civilization.