I believe everyone has never imagined that fish production in many rivers has dropped sharply, and many fish have even disappeared from the earth. For example, in March 2016, there were fishing boats fishing in the Yangtze River, including saury . The two fishing boats were busy for almost three hours, but they only caught one small saury of about 2 taels in total. The saury was becoming less and less. According to statistics from researchers, the output of saury in the Yangtze River Basin reached 3,750 tons in 1973, and dropped to 370 tons in 1983. After 2002, the output of saury was less than 100 tons. By 2011, the output It is as low as 12 tons.
In the era of the older generation of fishermen, whenever the saury season came, it was easy to catch a lot of saury in the Yangtze River. A 10-meter-long small fishing boat could catch almost 400 kilograms of saury in one net, and it could be done in one day. Several nets were caught. It is becoming increasingly difficult to catch swordfish, which also shows that the number of swordfish has declined sharply.
In fact, it is not just swordfish. Fishes in the Yangtze River or other river basins are more or less facing the same or similar problems. Because under the influence of humans, river basins have undergone some changes, which will subtly change the living environment of fish. If fish cannot adapt to the new environment, they may be eliminated. Therefore, to protect the fish in the Yangtze River Basin in the future, the Yangtze River has already implemented a fishing ban system in 2003. At that time, the fishing ban period was three months. After years of fishing bans, the fishery resources in the Yangtze River Basin have been "visibly" improved. Especially since the implementation of a 10-year fishing ban in the entire Yangtze River Basin in 2021, the number of fish in the Yangtze River Basin has grown more and more obviously, and there have been scenes of wild fish playing in groups in many areas. The 10-year ban on fishing in the entire basin has already seen such big changes. Will there be flooding in the 10-year ban on fishing?
A large number of wild fish appeared in Qingjiang, Hubei.
The scene of densely packed fish appearing in the Yangtze River Basin really happened. A large number of wild fish appeared in Yuxiakou Town, Changyang Tujia Autonomous County, Qingjiang River, and these fish were playing in the water in groups. Judging from the footage captured, these fish are swimming happily in the water and there are a lot of them. According to estimates from the Changyang Agricultural Law Enforcement and Fishery Management Department, the group of wild fish appearing in the picture may weigh nearly 150 tons.
This is just the number of fish that appeared in front of us. There are many fish in other areas that we have not photographed. The reason why there are dense schools of wild fish is that our fishing ban system plays a very important role. Because under our management, the ecological environment of the Yangtze River Basin has been greatly improved, and during the fishing ban, these wild fish also got a chance to "breathe". When the ecological environment continues to improve and is not overfished, these wild fish will begin to reproduce on a large scale. Will this situation become widespread one day in the future? I believe this is a topic that many people are concerned about. The carrying capacity of rivers is limited. If fish flood in the future, it may be counterproductive.
Asian carp are overrun in the United States
In some areas, certain fish species are indeed overrun. For example, Asian carp are overrun in the United States. What is going on?
Asian carp does not refer to a specific fish, but is the general name used by Americans for 8 kinds of fish native to Asia, such as herring , grass carp, carp , silver carp , etc. These fish are native to Asia, but in the 1970s, the United States introduced these "Asian carps" native to Asia in order to clean up algae in farms and sewage treatment tanks. The original intention of introducing these "Asian carp" is to "clean up pollution", but these fish grow so fast that they not only eat the algae in the water, but also eat the aquatic organisms that many native organisms depend on for survival. , there was a situation of flooding.As the number of "Asian carp" rises sharply, it has also caused serious damage to the local ecosystem. Although the United States has tried many methods to control these "Asian carp", the results have not been obvious.
A similar situation also occurred in Australia. There is a bay called Parry Beach in Western Australia. The water in this bay is crystal clear and the environment is very superior. In April and May every year, large-scale wild salmon appear on this beach, up to more than 3,000 tons. Densely packed wild salmon are alive and kicking on the beach. This makes the locals very worried, because no one eats these wild salmon. The main reason is that these wild salmon are different from the salmon sold in the market. The smell of wild salmon is stronger, and the local chefs don’t know it at all. How to deal with these fishy smells.
Now that the Yangtze River is closed to fishing, there will definitely be more and more fish. Will such flooding happen in the Yangtze River Basin in the future?
The reason for the proliferation of certain species may be due to invasive species, such as the "Asian carp" in the United States. Our current ban on fishing in the Yangtze River is to improve the ecosystem of the Yangtze River, protect the fish in the Yangtze River Basin, and give them a certain amount of time to restore their population size. However, theoretically speaking, there will be no flooding, because in the Yangtze River Basin, Some fish species influence and restrict each other.
Some experts estimate that even if fishing is banned for 10 years, the fish in the Yangtze River Basin may not return to the highest level, let alone become flooded. For example, it is estimated that after a 10-year fishing ban, the spawning volume of the "four major fish" in the Yangtze River Basin is expected to reach 20 billion to 30 billion, which is only about 30% of the level in the 1960s.
The simple truth is that a long time ago, when we humans had minimal impact on the Yangtze River, there was no problem of fish flooding in the Yangtze River Basin. If there is a flood of fish in a local watershed, our human intervention will solve the problem. So you don't need to worry.
