Related News
Net income dries up as fish stocks are depleted
Print Edition
HE hauls in a giant net from the river, depositing a jumble of flopping fish in his boat. But for Gu A’ta, the plentiful catch is nothing but bittersweet memory.
The 66-year old Songjiang native, who lives in Dayudai Village in Maogang Town, is one of only seven local fishermen who still ply the waters. None of their children has followed in their footsteps.
“Fishing is very hard,” Gu said. “Young people can’t make a go of it. The fact is that there are no more fish to catch in the river. We are the last generation.”
May to August was once the busiest fishing season for Gu and his wife Gu Xinying. It still is the best season but not necessarily very busy.
Nowadays, they wake up in a makeshift shed they built down by the Damao River, one of the three branches that form the Huangpu River. By torchlight, they make their way down to river’s edge and board their small fishing boat.
The relative cool of the early morning hours is the best time to catch fish, they explain.
“Later in the day, the shrimp and fish we catch would die in the heat,” he said. “No one wants dead fish.”
Over the years, the couple mastered the tides in order to pinpoint the ideal times and locations of the catch.
“It would be a bumper haul if the tides fell and we are there at just the right time,” Gu said.
Small catch
Every evening, the couple places a dozen small octagonal cage nets in the river, to be hauled up in the morning.
Gu said fishing with ordinary nets became increasingly difficult so fishermen reverted to the octagonal cage nets. The nets are about 10 meters long, with several entry points. When dropped to the river bottom, small crabs, fish and shrimp would enter the nets.
As she was talking, the wife Gu hauled up a cage net and unloaded it into the big bucket. The catch was disappointing. Mostly a snarl of water plants, with only a few fish and shrimp. Some were already dead.
“The water isn’t clean anymore,” she said. “Recent rain carried a lot of irrigation water with pesticides into the river. It’s hard for river creatures to survive.”
This particular morning, when fishing ended, the couple’s catch amounted to less than a kilogram of shrimp, a small bucket of crab, two carp, each weighing no more than 50 grams, and a dead eel.
“Well, it’s not that bad,” she said, trying to put on a brave face.
The couple supplements the family income by raising ducks.
“We feed them dead fish and shrimp,” the husband Gu said. “Nothing goes to waste.”
Gu was born into a family of fishermen living by the Damao River. For generations, Dayudai Village thrived on fishing.
However, rapid urbanization and river pollution doomed the tradition. Many villagers have put down their fishing gear, dry-docked their boats and found other ways to make a living.
Like many others, Gu’s family was relocated to the town. In order to continue fishing, the couple erected their makeshift cabin on the banks of the Damao.
For several years, Gu stopped fishing and worked in a factory. But he couldn’t resist the pull of the water and eventually returned to his boat.
“About 30 years ago, there was a wide variety of fish in the Damao River,” he said. “I would drop my nets and catch a lot of fish within three hours. Even when I swam in the river, I could easily catch fish because there were so many.”
Today, his livelihood has become more of a pastime. His family now lives in a more built-up area. Part of what the family catches in the river is sold in the local wet market. The rest lands on their dinner table.
“My wife and I received about 2,000 yuan (US$325) from the old-age pension,” he said. “Fishing just earns us a little pocket money. It’s not much, but I quite enjoy fishing and can’t bear to give it up completely.”
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
