Recently, after one month, nearly 300,000 square meters of lake water was drained from Ruzhou, Henan to catch "strange fish" crocodile gar , attracting more than 30 million netizens to watch. Subsequently, alligator gars were found in many places such as Beijing, Guangdong, Hunan, Shandong, and Yunnan. There were even thrilling incidents of alligator gars hurting people. Since then, "crocodile gar" and "exotic species" have quickly become hot words on the Internet, and alien species invasion ( biological invasion ) has also jumped from an unpopular scientific term to a hot topic that has attracted widespread attention from all walks of life.
crocodile gar, picture source network
According to the provisions of the " Management Measures for the Management of Invasive Species ", two conditions must be met for alien species to become invasive species: one is that foreign species can survive for a long time after entering a region and form populations in the foreseeable future; the other is that it will pose a threat or harm to the ecological environment of the incoming area, the development of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fishery industries, and even human health. For example, wheat, potatoes, carrots, corn, etc. are all alien species, but not alien invasive species. On the contrary, alligator gar, Fushou snail , American white moth , Red Fire Ant ants , African big snail , Brazilian red-eared turtle , water hyacinth, pine nematode , Canadian yellow flower , etc. are invasive species.
一组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组组� In fact, many countries around the world have caused significant losses due to invasion of alien species. The United States suffers economic losses of US$150 billion due to foreign species invasions every year, India reaches US$130 billion, and South Africa reaches US$80 billion. At present, more than 660 invasive alien species have been discovered in my country, of which 71 have caused harm to natural ecosystems and 219 have invaded national nature reserve . According to statistics, invasion of foreign species causes 119.876 billion yuan in economic losses in China every year, of which pine nematodes, American white moths, etc. alone cause an average annual forestry loss of 11 billion yuan, accounting for 10% of the losses caused by forestry pests in the country.
In order to prevent the invasion of alien species, my country has formulated laws, regulations and policy documents such as "Biose Safety Law", " Wildlife Protection Law ", "Entering and Outbound Animal and Plant Quarantine Law", "Entry-Exit Animal and Plant Quarantine Measures", "Entry-Top Wildlife Alien Types and Quantity Approval Management Measures", " Agricultural Genetically Modified Biological Safety Management Regulations ", "Measures for the Handling of Pest Incidents in Surprising Forestry", "Measures for the Management of Invasive Species in Alien", and has also issued 4 batches of "List of Invasive Species in China's Natural Ecosystem" and formulated the "National List of Invasive Species in Key Management of Invasive Species". It can be said that so far, my country has built a legal and policy system to prevent the invasion of alien species.
my country's "Biosafety Law" clearly stipulates that no unit or individual may introduce, release or discard foreign species without approval; if it constitutes an illegal act, in addition to catching and recovering the alien species within a time limit, it will also be fined 10,000 to 50,000 yuan; the "Wildlife Protection Law" not only stipulates the approval system for the introduction of wild animal species overseas, prohibits the provision of advertising and trading services for the illegal sale, purchase, and use of wild animals, but also makes specific provisions on the release behavior, requiring the selection of local species suitable for survival in the wild in the release site, and shall not interfere with the normal life and production of local residents, and avoid causing harm to the ecosystem, otherwise it shall bear legal liability; the "Measures for the Management of Invasive Species" also makes relatively comprehensive provisions on the source prevention, monitoring and early warning, prevention and control of invasive alien species. In particular, the " Criminal Law " also stipulates the crime of illegally introducing, discarding, and releasing invasive alien species. If the circumstances are serious, the prison sentence of not more than three years is subject to fixed-term imprisonment.
" Extra pet ", the picture source network
However, in real life, online transactions of "Extra pets" such as alligator gar, Brazilian turtle, hamster, lizard, etc. have not been effectively curbed. The main reason is that the current legislation does not regulate the transaction link, especially online transactions.The Biosafety Law stipulates: "Unauthorized introduction, release or discard foreign species without approval", but does not stipulate that illegal sales, purchase of alien species without legal source certificates and without inspection and quarantine certificates are prohibited. The same problem exists in the "Measures for the Management of Invasive Alien Species". Secondly, the law enforcement supervision of the transaction link is not effective, especially the law enforcement of online transactions, and the understanding, catalog, equipment, technology, coordination, etc. cannot keep up with the pace. For example, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs has not yet formulated the official list of invasive alien species . In addition, online transactions are concealed and fast, and objectively, law enforcement is quite difficult.
To this end, my country's legal system to deal with invasion of foreign species needs to be strengthened and improved. It is recommended that in accordance with the principles of strict prevention at the source, strict management of processes, and severe punishment of consequences, the "Wildlife Protection Law", "Biose Safety Law", "Criminal Law", " E-commerce Law ", "Post Law", "Interim Regulations on Express Delivery", "Measures for the Management of Invasive Species" and other relevant laws and regulations should be revised as soon as possible in accordance with the principles of strict prevention at the source, strict management of processes, and strict punishment of consequences, and the illegal sale and purchase of invasive alien species are prohibited. In addition, it is recommended that the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate issue a judicial interpretation on the crime of illegally introducing, discarding and releasing invasive alien species as soon as possible; in accordance with the requirements of the Biosafety Law, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, on the basis of the existing list, will work with relevant departments to formulate a new list of invasive alien species.
For the general public, we should establish a sense of biosecurity and not buy and sell wild animals at will, especially consciously resist the illegal transactions of "extraordinary pets" on e-commerce platforms. At the same time, do not discard foreign species as pets, and do not use their love to release foreign animals at will, so as not to do bad things if you are kind and cause trouble.
Author | Yang Chaoxia (Director, professor, doctoral supervisor, researcher at the Institute of Ecological Protection and High-Quality Development in the Yellow River Basin)
(original article published in "Shanghai Legal Daily" B7 edition B7 edition, October 14, 2022)
