2016 Pearl River Fishing Ban: Six Provinces and Regions Carry Out Synchronized Law Enforcement
Original headline: Ministry of Agriculture Deploys and Launches the 2016 Pearl River Fishing Ban and Law Enforcement Action
2016 Pearl River Fishing Ban (file photo)
Starting at 12:00 on April 1, the main streams, major tributaries and lakes connected to the Pearl River in the six provinces (regions) of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou and Yunnan entered the fishing ban period. To carry out law enforcement and management during the fishing ban period, on the morning of April 1, the Yangtze River Basin Fishery Supervision and Management Office of the Ministry of Agriculture organized Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan and other six provinces (regions) in the Pearl River basin to carry out synchronized law enforcement actions during the fishing ban period, requiring all localities to take into account their own actual conditions, carry out organization, mobilization, law enforcement and management work well, organize fishery patrol vessels and law enforcement forces to strengthen law enforcement inspections during the fishing ban period, clean up and ban prohibited fishing gear and illegal fishing, and strictly investigate and punish in accordance with the law illegal and criminal acts such as electrofishing, poisoning and explosives fishing that seriously damage resources and the ecology. During this period, the Ministry of Agriculture will also organize cruise supervision and cross inspections to ensure the smooth implementation of the fishing ban period system.
The Ministry of Agriculture stressed that governments at all levels along the river must fully understand the great significance of implementing the fishing ban period system for conserving aquatic biological resources and protecting the water ecological environment, and must organize and implement social management work well during the fishing ban period, including mobilizing fishermen and providing living subsidies and allowances; fishery departments and law enforcement agencies at all levels must attach great importance to this, fulfill their duties conscientiously, enforce the law fairly, strictly and in a civilized manner, ensure good management order during the fishing ban period, and ensure that the fishing ban produces its due effect; the broad community of fishermen must consciously abide by the fishing ban management regulations, eliminate illegal fishing, supervise and report illegal acts, and jointly maintain order during the fishing ban.
In order to better implement the Pearl River fishing ban period system and strengthen the ecological conservation of the Pearl River, the Ministry of Agriculture will also organize and carry out a series of law enforcement actions.
Cleanup and rectification of illegal fishing. In the Pearl River basin, efforts will be increased to clean up and rectify "nets that wipe out entire populations", ban "three-no" vessels involved in fishing and crack down on electrofishing, poisoning and explosives fishing, consolidate the earlier law enforcement results and conserve aquatic biological resources. The focus will be on investigating and punishing electrofishing, poisoning and explosives fishing, and the use of illegal fishing gear such as confusion nets, ground cages and lift nets for fishing.
Aquatic organism stock enhancement and release activities. The Ministry of Agriculture will extensively organize all localities to carry out standardized aquatic organism stock enhancement and release activities, so that fishing ban period management and the restoration of aquatic biological resources and water ecology complement each other, further promote the green development of fisheries, effectively strengthen ecological protection in the Pearl River basin, and comprehensively advance the construction of water ecological civilization.
Ensure related work is carried out well. Fishery administration departments at all levels will vigorously organize training and guidance activities to promote fishery efficiency and the transfer of fishermen to other industries and occupations; earnestly implement central policies that strengthen agriculture and benefit farmers, such as diesel subsidies, and wholeheartedly do a good job in helping fishermen overcome difficulties; actively organize aquatic research institutions to carry out monitoring and assessment of fishery resources, providing scientific and technological support for the implementation of the fishing ban period system. (Long Xin)