Father and son sentenced for illegal fishing
A father and son have been sentenced to nine months in jail for illegal fishing after catching nearly 2,500 kilograms of carp and weever worth nearly 76,000 yuan (US$10,675) from the Yangtze River during the close season.
The son, who was regarded as an accomplice, was given a one-year reprieve at Shanghai Railway Transport Court on Thursday.
The pair were ordered to pay 75,890 yuan compensation for the loss caused to the nation's fishery resources and to apologize to the public.
Prosecutors said they had fished at night nine times between September 5 and 17 last year and had illegally used a high-voltage generator to catch the fish.
Their total catch — 1,886.5 kilograms of spotted silver carp, 71 kilograms of silver carp and 535 kilograms of weever — made them a profit of more than 30,000 yuan.
Their last trip was on September 17, when the pair sailed two boats to waters near Jiulong Port. They trawled for fish and then went to Panshi Port on Chongming District’s Changxing Island to sell their catch. They were caught by police at the scene and 249 kilograms of spotted silver carp and 70 kilograms of Yangtze River weever worth about 9,880 yuan were seized.
Police also seized their equipment, including a trawl net and the generator.
The Yangtze River is a rich source of freshwater fish but resources are in decline and some breeds have almost been exhausted. China this year implemented a 10-year fishing ban in key areas to protect biodiversity in the nation's longest river.
On Wednesday, the first case of killing endangered Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River Delta was heard by Chongming District People's Court.
A man surnamed Xing, who caught a young Chinese sturgeon from waters near Sheshan Island in the district and some other fish in August last year and froze them for his own consumption, was sentenced to a year in jail and fined 5,000 yuan.
He was also ordered to make a public apology.
Some of the fish caught illegally from the Yangtze River.
