Disorderly Release of Animals Causes Great Harm, Massive Fish Deaths in Lakes and Seas

Recently, a large number of dead fish appeared in the Napahai Lake area of Shangri-La City, Diqing Prefecture, Yunnan Province, drawing widespread attention. A reporter learned from the Publicity Department of the Shangri-La Municipal Party Committee on the 28th that the dead fish were caused by disorderly release of animals combined with the seasonal shrinking of the lake's water area;

Since mid-February, netizens have reported one after another that a large number of dead fish have appeared in the Napahai Lake area. Video and images provided by netizens showed that dead fish were floating all over the lakeside, some already decomposed.

In the photo, local personnel are organized to clean up the dead fish.

The Publicity Department of the Shangri-La Municipal Party Committee responded on the 28th that the massive fish deaths in Napahai were caused by two factors. First, members of the public released animals in a disorderly manner, putting various kinds of fish into Napahai, and the excessive carrying capacity caused the death of the released fish. Second, Napahai is a seasonal lake; from June of that year to January of the following year, the water area is large, fish food is abundant, and the fish reproduce quickly. Then, from February to March of the following year, the water area shrinks sharply, and coupled with too little precipitation from the end of last year to the beginning of this year, there were too many fish and a lack of oxygen, which led to the massive fish deaths.

In the photo, local personnel are organized to clean up the dead fish.

After the incident, local authorities carried out cleanup operations for the dead fish in the lake area for several consecutive days. As of now, the dead fish have been completely cleaned up.

The Publicity Department of the Shangri-La Municipal Party Committee said that next, local authorities will also carry out targeted publicity and education activities to guide the public to release animals in a civilized and scientific way; and will strive to coordinate all parties to maintain a reasonable water level in the lake area, reduce pollution as much as possible, and allow the Napahai wetland to give full play to its ecological and social benefits.