But as he walked, Ye Yaodong thought more and more that something was wrong. It seemed that the Gezhouba Dam was built two years ago
After the Gezhouba Dam was built, the spawning and migration routes of the Chinese sturgeon were blocked. The number of young fish declined sharply within three years, and the resource volume decreased by about 97%.
It seems that my country has completely banned the commercial fishing of Chinese sturgeon since 1983, probably next year
I was really affected by the sudden excitement just now, and I actually forgot about this. I thought that the Chinese sturgeons were infested and swam here.
He quickly said to his two brothers-in-law, "I remembered that we can't catch this fish now. If we catch it, we might end up in jail. Should we release it?"
It’s not like he hasn’t caught big fish before, so Ye Yaodong doesn’t feel any pain when talking about releasing the fish. Just let it go, there’s no need to step on the line.
"Ah? That's impossible?" Lin Xianghui asked in surprise, "Isn't it just a fish?"
Lin Xiangrong also frowned and said, "Yeah, why do you have to go to jail for catching a fish?"
Ye Yaodong scratched his head. He couldn't just say that this was an endangered species and would become extinct in a few years, so fishing should be banned now. After thinking about it, he could only rely on his eloquence.
"Fish are different from fish. This kind of fish is special just by its appearance, color and lines. I heard that the Chinese sturgeon is on the verge of extinction. If we sell it tomorrow, we might be caught and taught a lesson. I definitely know more fish than you do. Listen to me. Can I push away the money I've earned? This fish should be impossible to catch now."
The two brothers looked at each other, feeling a little reluctant. They had finally caught a valuable big fish.
Lin Xiangrong frowned, "Didn't you say you didn't know if this was a Chinese sturgeon?"
"Well... I'm not sure. After all, I haven't seen it either. But what if it is? If you sell it for money and someone recognizes it, you will still be arrested. It's useless to say you don't know it. This one is very similar to the Chinese sturgeon I know. It's better to believe it than not to believe it."
The two were still hesitating, and Ye Yaodong could only continue to persuade them.
"Don't hesitate, give me the bucket, and let it go as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would be a sin if it died. It's just a fish, so just consider it as a good deed. Next time we go to the beach, I'll take you fishing. It's much more fun than fishing. We can also go to an isolated island to fish for seafood."
Lin Xiangrong said unwillingly: "If we release it, what if someone else catches it?"
"That's not something we can control. If someone else catches it and sells it, such a big fish will definitely be known on the streets and alleys, and it will definitely be caught. Or you can be more enthusiastic and go to the Ocean Bureau tomorrow and say that you caught a Chinese sturgeon and released it, and let them catch it and send it back to the Yangtze River? Now is indeed the season for them to return to the Yangtze River to spawn."
"So... is there a reward?"
Ye Yaodong shrugged, "I don't know, why don't you try?"
The policy was issued in 1983, and it is now the second half of 1982. There must have been discussions and it is taken very seriously. I just don't know whether their local ocean and fishery bureau attaches great importance to it and whether they have received any relevant notifications
Lin Xianghui glanced at the bucket reluctantly, sighed, and handed it to him, "Take it and release it. It's just one fish. Just consider it a good deed."
"That's right. If you can avoid crossing the line, then don't do it."
Lin Xiangrong was unwilling to give up, and intercepted the bucket halfway, "Don't let it go, okay? We can send it directly to the restaurant, and we'll sell it if they want to buy it. We don't know what kind of fish it is, it just looks big, and ignorance is not a crime."
"You want money but not your life?" Ye Yaodong glared. He didn't think about it at first, thinking that the fish were so rampant that even here they could find them. But now he remembered the Gezhouba incident and decided not to catch them. They would become extinct in a few years.
"Let's try it. What if we release it and it gets caught by someone else? Why should we let them get away with it?"
"How do you know that you are giving others a bargain? Just read it and learn from it. It's not like you haven't seen money before."
Lin Xianghui also advised: "Forget it, it's just a fish, just consider it as a good deed. This fish looks so big, it doesn't look like something we can have here, let it go."
Lin Xiangrong frowned, still unwilling, Ye Yaodong simply snatched the bucket from his hand, "Next time I have a chance, I'll take you to the sea to catch a bigger fish. I just caught a big grouper a few days ago, which is much bigger than this fish."
Both agreed to release the fish, and Lin Xiangrong had no choice but to watch the fish return to the water. He felt extremely distressed and felt that the money he had earned wasted.
Seeing that although the man had a sullen face, he did not rush up to snatch the fish, Ye Yaodong felt relieved. He walked to the river and carefully poured the fish, which he was not sure whether it was a Chinese sturgeon, back into the river.
This fish probably got separated from the main group and got lost and ran here. It would be better if it could adapt to this place and lay eggs here. In this way, it would not have to swim back to the Yangtze River all the way, and it could survive and develop instead of being on the verge of extinction.
"Have a safe journey, big brother. May you have many children and grandchildren."
When my brother-in-law heard this, he was immediately furious.
As soon as the fish entered the water, it swam happily. Its tail slapped the surface of the river, splashing water all over Ye Yaodong's face.
"Fuck, you are taking revenge on me, right? I've already let you go, you're so petty, it's obvious that you got into my cage on your own."
Ye Yaodong wiped his face and watched it swim away before he stood up with relief. "Okay, let's call it a day and go home. We've already had a good harvest in just a short time at night. It's good enough, with fish and shrimp."
Lin Xianghui looked at the water with some regret, then reluctantly withdrew his gaze and said as he walked: "Well, there are still a lot of river shrimps. We can keep half and sell the other half. Will you go to the town with us tomorrow?"
"No, I'm not going. It's just a few pounds of shrimp. You can sell them and split the money among yourselves. I'm just here to get a bite to eat."
There are no big goods anymore, what else is there for him to divide
Lin Xiangrong was already unhappy about letting the shrimps go, and if he were to share the profit from selling the shrimps with them, he would probably be very embarrassed. It's not like he has never seen money before, right
Lin Xianghui smiled and said, "You can still have a bite to eat even if you don't come."
"If I don't come, I won't be able to learn anything?"
Being able to see and catch the endangered Chinese sturgeon and release it is also a special experience.
“I hope it doesn’t get caught by someone else!”
Ye Yaodong glanced at Lin Xiangrong in surprise, "Has your enlightenment suddenly become so high?"
I was not willing to let it go just now!
"We just released it. If someone caught it and sold it secretly for a lot of money, we would be so angry that we would die."
Well, he was overthinking it. He didn't want to release it and be caught by someone else, so he might as well pray that it would swim away quickly.
"Are there many people from your village who come to this river to fish?"
Seeing that his brother was still depressed, Lin Xianghui replied, "There are a few of them. We all play the same game of fishing. Occasionally, we use hand nets to catch fish in the water, but it is difficult to catch them during the day. We are the only ones who make cages properly. We always come at night so that we are less conspicuous."
"We saw this in your village when Aqing got married a few years ago. We thought we could put it in the sea or river. We watched others make it carefully and then made one ourselves. We found that the effect was quite good, so we just made a few more."
"We go to the river to put shrimp nets every day to improve our food. In the past few years, we didn't dare to buy or sell shrimps. We only ate them ourselves. In recent years, we have made some money to supplement our family income. We are afraid that if we catch too much shrimps too often, there will be nothing left to catch in the future. We are also afraid that we will have too many nets to sell. So we dare not put more shrimps in at a time."
Pretty smart, he even knows about sustainable development.
"Indeed, if you catch too much at once, it will affect reproduction."
Lin Xianghui smiled and said, "I don't really have much free time. My family has been clearing wasteland and planting trees in the past few years. I'm very busy during the day and fall asleep as soon as I get home. Most of the time I don't have the energy to go out and catch fish and shrimp."
"It's good. During the day, I saw that the mountain was full of fruit trees, with grapefruits and oranges being the most abundant. When they are ripe, they can be sold for a lot of money."
Talking about fruit trees touches their hearts, as this is the result of several years of hard work. They all start from small saplings, and it takes more than one or two years to harvest.
Lin Xianghui's dark face showed a deeper smile. "We are counting on the fruit trees and tea trees on the mountain. Fortunately, the typhoon didn't have much impact this year, so we should be able to have a good harvest."
He chatted leisurely with his brother-in-law. Neither of them had ever talked so much before.