Releasing 25,000 catfish for blessing? 20,000 catfish died, fined 58,000 yuan!

Recently, the country's first civil public interest lawsuit involving illegal release of alien species was pronounced in Nanjing.

In December 2020, Xu from Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, bought catfish worth more than 90,000 yuan from Liu in order to pray for his family and friends, and asked Liu to deliver the catfish to a designated location. On December 15, without reporting to the competent authorities, Xu tried to release catfish in Qianzi Lake. After being stopped by relevant staff and surrounding residents , he secretly went to a port in Changdang Lake and released 25,000 kilograms of catfish .

A large number of catfish released by Xu died. The Changdang Lake Fishery Supervision Team fished out 20,200 kilograms of dead catfish in 10 days. After identification, the released catfish were found to be Egyptian catfish, an alien species with strong invasive ability.

Salvaging dead catfish | Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court official microblog

Due to the illegal release of alien species, which caused the loss of ecological resources and service functions of Changdang Lake, together with expert evaluation fees and other expenses, the defendants Xu and Liu were ultimately required to pay a total of RMB 58,000 in compensation .

Where did the Egyptian catfish come from? Is it okay to release native species?

Egyptian catfish, stinky ditch fish?

Egyptian catfish , also known as leather catfish and Egyptian pond catfish, was first introduced to China from Egypt in the early 1980s. The breeding history of Egyptian catfish in China is also relatively long, and there are many breeding areas, even in the northern region.

Egyptian catfish (Clarias gariepinus) | WA Djatmiko / Wikimedia Commons

However, due to reasons such as escape from aquaculture , the Egyptian catfish has now appeared in natural freshwater systems in South China and even parts of East China.

The Egyptian catfish grows fast, has strong reproductive capacity, and is relatively tolerant , so it is even misrepresented as a fish that eats garbage in stinky ditches. Once it enters the natural environment, it will not only compete with native species in the same ecological niche, but also prey on a large number of aquatic organisms, consuming natural biological resources. Moreover, the Egyptian catfish is not easy to die out of water , and can even migrate from dry ponds to nearby water bodies in its native habitat like climbing perch.

However, strong tolerance does not mean that the Egyptian catfish likes to live in stinky ditches｜Paul Asman and Jill Lenoble / flickr

It has been confirmed that the Egyptian catfish can overwinter and reproduce in South China and has established a wild population.

Releasing the scavengers will bring blessings to everyone who sees them?

In the eyes of people who buy fish and release them, releasing them not only allows the little lives to return to nature, but also accumulates merit and blessings for themselves and their families - however, the reality is far from the truth.

Some released animals are not suitable for the environment in which they are released and may die soon after being released . If an animal is extremely tenacious but is released into an environment that does not belong to it, its tenacious survival may bring an invasion disaster to local species .

For example, releasing tortoises that can't swim into the water, and all the tortoises drowned｜Nattawut Phothong

During the Mid-Autumn Festival last year, someone in Guangxi released scavenger fish into a reservoir, saying as he did so, “Anyone who sees this will be blessed.”

In a narrow sense, "scavenger" refers specifically to the leopard fat catfish, which belongs to the family of Caryopterygii in the order Siluriformes; in a broad sense, "scavenger" refers to fish that look similar to and are closely related to the leopard fat catfish and can be used to clean fish tanks.

Leopard catfish (Pterygoplichthys pardalis) is a frequent visitor to aquariums and was introduced to China as an ornamental fish｜Richwales / Wikimedia Commons

However, for our country's native species, scavengers are also invasive species.

This fish is covered with armor and is difficult to eat. Carnivorous fish in the river can't do anything to it. Chinese people who love to eat shake their heads when they see it (but Calendar Lady wants to reiterate with a serious face: it is almost impossible to solve the problem of species invasion by relying on foodies!). The scavenger has a strong reproductive capacity and can lay more than a thousand eggs at a time. It can lay eggs every month during the peak breeding season. Now, the scavenger has been included in the "List of Alien Invasive Species in China" .

In the southern Chinese water system, sometimes you can catch so many large scavengers with one net, but I have no appetite at all when I see them｜J. Lee

Releasing red-eared sliders will hurt both humans and turtles

In addition to releasing fish, there is also releasing turtles.

The Mississippi red-eared slider , also known as the Brazilian slider, has a dark green carapace and rosy cheeks. It is very popular in the pet market, cheap and easy to raise. The red-eared slider has a strong adaptability to the environment, can resist extreme environments and germs, is not picky about food, and has a strong reproductive capacity.

Mississippi red-eared slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) | Pixabay

Red-eared sliders are a common animal in religious release activities. Nowadays, red-eared sliders have become the absolute protagonist in the release ponds of temples of all sizes in China. Because of the release activities, a large number of red-eared sliders have come into the wild, posing a serious threat to the local ecological environment .

The red-eared sliders that entered the wild quickly occupied ecological niches, squeezed the living space of native turtles, competed with them for food, and even destroyed the nests of native turtles on the mudflats. As a result, in many areas of the south, the only turtles that can be seen in the wild are red-eared sliders , and the native turtles in the same area are almost extinct.

On the other hand, the red-eared slider also poses a threat to the survival of other animals . For example, it will enter the nests of water birds to rest. If there happen to be baby birds and bird eggs in the nest, they will inevitably be attacked by the red-eared slider.

Red-eared sliders are victims of release, but they have also become perpetrators of the ecological environment and other species. Brocken Inaglory / Wikimedia Commons

In addition, red-eared sliders can transmit diseases . In the breeding of young turtles, more than 85% of red-eared sliders carry Salmonella, which is transmitted to warm-blooded animals through feces and water, affecting human health and life safety. According to relevant surveys, in the United States, 40% of Salmonella infections are caused by turtles.

Releasing native species? Not a big deal

Releasing foreign species can easily lead to species invasion, but what about releasing local species ? This is not a good idea either , as it may still have a negative impact on wild populations and the ecological environment. The giant salamander is a typical example.

The Chinese giant salamander, also known as the "baby fish", is a national second-class protected animal in the wild; but due to artificial breeding, it also appears in the market｜Louis-Léopold Boilly / Wikimedia Commons

Usually, the animals that can be legally purchased for release in the market are farmed individuals, and the giant salamander, which is listed as a national second-class protected animal, appears in the market for the same reason. However, after many generations of artificial breeding, the genetic information of the farmed strain is likely to be different from that of the wild population, with reduced genetic diversity and the ability to adapt to the wild environment may also be reduced.

Once these farmed individuals enter the wild environment and leave offspring, they may bring harmful genetic mutations into wild populations , leading to the decline of wild populations; at the same time, they may also compete with wild populations, causing the collapse of wild populations and the loss of genetic diversity .

The Chinese giant salamander population contains at least five independent evolutionary lineages. Randomly releasing farmed individuals may destroy the genetic diversity of wild giant salamanders｜Petr Hamerník / Wikipedia

As for the illegal poaching of local species and then selling them to those who release them into the wild - animals are in danger of death during the hunting process, and even if we don't consider the ecological issues, how many lives are lost in order to "release" an animal - whether this is a "merit" or a "sin" will become clear if you think about it.

During poaching, animals can easily die from injuries or stress. Behind a live animal in the poaching market, there may be dozens of dead animals. The picture shows a surviving spotted seal pup in the Dalian spotted seal poaching case in 2019 | Dalian News

In the absence of professional advice, it is difficult to avoid the various hazards of releasing animals and to achieve "scientific release". Simply put, no matter what is released, it is likely to cause adverse interference to the native flora and fauna, resulting in more innocent sacrifices.

The verdict in this case of illegal release of alien species once again emphasized the importance of biosecurity in our country's laws and regulations. The "Biosecurity Law of the People's Republic of China" which came into effect in April 2021 stipulates that anyone who releases or abandons alien species without authorization shall be ordered to capture or retrieve them within a time limit and be fined .

It is better to leave the release of animals to professionals. What we can do is to read more and support these reliable wildlife rescue organizations｜Sharklab-malta

If friends want to save lives and accumulate merit, they can support more reliable wildlife rescue institutions and protection organizations , and set an example to popularize scientific knowledge of wildlife protection to people around them. If you release animals at will, it will not be considered a merit for yourself, the animals, or the environment.

Author: Little Towel, Seafood Knowledge, Lupin, Young Hero Little Yellow Chicken

Editor: Little Towel, Mai Mai

Cover image source: Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court official microblog

This article comes from the Species Calendar, welcome to forward

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