With the implementation of the Yangtze River fishing ban policy, people have a strong curiosity and concern about the source of saury in the market.
On January 1, 2020, the mainland officially implemented a ban on fishing in the Yangtze River, which means that any form of fishing is no longer allowed in the Yangtze River basin. This major move has not only aroused widespread concern, but also raised concerns about the availability of fish.
After all, the Yangtze River has always been one of the mainland's most important inland waters, home to countless rare fish, including the famous saury.
This has undoubtedly had a certain impact on the entire aquatic product market. Some industry insiders said that after the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River, there was a shortage of many aquatic products, and the price also rose sharply.
For example, silver carp, which was originally not expensive, is now sold for more than 30 yuan a pound in the market, and rare fish such as saury have risen in price to the point that it is difficult to get close to the people. This situation has raised strong concerns.
After all, when the market is insufficient, it will naturally induce some illegal fishing, which will further threaten the survival of rare fish. Therefore, it is particularly important to find out where the saury currently on the market comes from.
First of all, we came to a famous aquatic product wholesale market in Shanghai. It is an important distribution center for aquatic products in the Yangtze River Delta region, and it is also the key to understanding the source of saury.
Inside the market, we found several merchants that specialize in fish and asked about the current availability of saury in the market. Surprisingly, these merchants have said that all their saury fish are caught at sea.
They say that because of the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River, there are almost no saury caught from the Yangtze River on the market.
To further test this claim, we decided to travel to Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, to visit the local fishing port and wharf for ourselves. Here, we see a large number of giant saury fish caught from the sea, which are being unloaded and loaded by fishermen.
A fisherman told us that they mainly fish for saury in the Bohai Sea, East China Sea and other waters. The saury is refrigerated and eventually sold to the local seafood market.
Based on our field research, we have come to a preliminary conclusion: most of the saury currently sold in the market does come from marine fishing in coastal areas. This not only satisfies the needs of consumers, but also avoids further reductions in rare fish in the Yangtze River basin.
So we believe that while the vast majority of saury on the market today comes from legal ocean fishing, it should not be taken lightly. Relevant authorities and law enforcement efforts must continue to be strengthened to curb illegal fishing, and the scope of supervision must be strengthened to ensure that marine fishing activities have minimal impact on the ecology of the Yangtze River.