Controlled farming imposed on Liangzi Lake crabs to protect Wuhan's backup water source

    "If the skin is gone, what will the hair cling to?" Yesterday, reporters learned from the provincial CPPCC's research activity on Wuhan's drinking water sources that the net-pen aquaculture of Liangzi Lake crabs and other aquatic products, an industry worth hundreds of millions of yuan, threatens the water quality of Liangzi Lake, Wuhan's backup drinking water source, and Liangzi Lake crab farming will be brought under control.

    It is understood that Liangzi Lake, covering 280 sq km, is known as the "mother lake" of Wuhan, Huangshi, Ezhou and Xianning. At present, the water quality in the Wuhan portion of the lake (about 2/3 of the entire lake) is good, maintaining a Class II water quality standard, and it has been designated as Wuhan's backup drinking water source.

    The portion of Liangzi Lake in Wuhan's Jiangxia District covers an area of 281,000 mu and is rich in more than 50 kinds of aquatic products, including crabs, mandarin fish and freshwater shrimp. Since net-pen aquaculture first appeared in 1986, driven by profit, the farming area reached a peak of 100,000 mu, accounting for 25% of the total water area; output also rose rapidly from less than 8 million jin in the 1980s to more than 20 million jin, with an annual output value exceeding 100 million yuan.

    Behind the prosperity of net-pen aquaculture of aquatic products, including Liangzi Lake crabs, lies water pollution. Farmers put large amounts of bait and drugs into Liangzi Lake, causing severe eutrophication of the water and posing a serious threat to the backup drinking water source for tens of millions of residents. At present, Wuhan, Huangshi, Ezhou and Xianning have jointly signed the "Agreement on the Protection of Liangzi Lake."

    A relevant official of the Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said that since 2006, the provincial government has carried out four major net-removal operations at Liangzi Lake, removing more than 40,000 mu of nets in total. But at present, a certain amount of blocking-net aquaculture still remains in the Jiangxia waters, especially the iron railing between the South and North Zui, which separates the Zhangqiao Lake branch from the main lake. According to relevant national regulations, net-pen aquaculture in the main lake must be kept within 10%.