On June 4, volunteers from China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) Community Conservation Area at Suihua, Heilongjiang (CCAfa) conducted daily patrol along the Hulan River. Thanks to their kind deeds, a total of 17 ground cage nets have been destroyed, and lots of fish trapped in nets back to the river. A perfect fish-saving action, best practice of “Biodiversity Conservation in Our Neighborhood (BCON).
During the patrol, the volunteers found private fish ponds under the bridge in Lanxi County and in the Nanda River, a tributary of the Hulan River. Some villagers introduced that it was contracted by people in the nearby Tuen Mun, with a total length of more than ten kilometres, which was handled by the former Lanxi County aquatic department. According to the contract, this fishpond contract has a life up to 70 years, to expire in 2075, the annual contract fee of about 10,000 yuan.
And appallingly, long ground cage nets have been illegally set everywhere. The villagers said, “Because there are fewer fish in the river now, the nets are set in the river in order to catch more.” In response, the volunteers told the villagers in detail that even if the river is contracted, it is still part of the natural river and cannot be fished with prohibited nets. In order to warn the illegal fishermen, the volunteers contacted the Lanxi County Fisheries Law Enforcement Brigade, and the law enforcement officers immediately came to the scene to deal with it.
The volunteers said that contracting a natural river to an individual and using it as a fish farming pond for such a long period of years will affect the ecological health of the river, especially when the contractor over-uses the natural water body for farming and fishing in order to make up for the cost of the contract. Also, whether these contracting procedures are in line with local management regulations needs to be further verified.
Overall, illegal fishing is a serious problem in Lancashire County. Here, there are more people involved in releasing fish and the number of illegal fishers has also increased, which is a big headache for fishery law enforcement officers in Lanxi County, and it is very difficult to carry out their work.
The patrol lasted 3 hours, with a total of 17 ground cage nets destroyed, almost every ground cage net is thirty to forty metres long. In the process, lots of fish have been rescued and released.
The volunteers expressed their heartfelt thanks to the Fisheries Law Enforcement Brigade for their swift action, which also supported the volunteer patrols. At the same time, it is hoped that the relevant local departments will pay attention to the management of illegal fishing during the closed season and protect the ecological environment of the waters of the Lanxi County section of the Hulan River.
Biodiversity Conservation in Our Neighborhood (BCON) is a global biodiversity solution initiated by CBCGDF’s Jinfeng Zhou which’s designed to mitigate the rapid loss of biodiversity through people-centered approaches. As an innovative initiative for biodiversity conservation in the era of ecological civilization, “Biodiversity Conservation in Our Neighborhood” is a people-engaged solution, encouraging active contributions from the public in reducing biodiversity footprints in daily life, engaging in nature conservation, and actively contributing to the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). As of Jan 2024, over 210 community conservation areas have been established to carry out Biodiversity Conservation in Our Neighborhood (BCON). BCON)” has been recognized as one of the global solutions for nature at the 2023 Paris Peace Forum.
(This article is a record of daily work, for reference ONLY.)
Compiled by: Samantha
Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776
Contribution
Do you know? We rely on crowd-funding and donations. You have the opportunity to help an international movement to advance biodiversity conservation. Donate TODAY to power up the movement to make it a better world for all life.
Donation(501C3)Paypal: intl@wbag.org
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=2EYYJJZ8CGPL
cbcgdf.wordpress.com 
