Save the earthworms!

Dried earthworms, also known as dried earthworms, are a traditional Chinese medicinal material. As its price has continued to rise in recent years, the sales of a machine called "electric earthworm machine" on the Internet have also increased accordingly, and a profit chain for "extinction-style" killing of earthworms has begun to emerge.

The price of dried earthworm medicine has skyrocketed

Electric earthworm machines frequently kill earthworms in an "extinction-style" manner

The reporter searched for keywords such as "electric earthworm machine" and "earthworm instrument", and the screen was filled with a metal instrument shaped like a large battery, with prices ranging from more than 100 yuan to 800 yuan. Some stores have sold as many as 100,000 units, and the comment section is also filled with hunters' experiences of using the instrument in the fields.

The seller said that in addition to buying the earthworm machine, buyers also need to bring their own batteries. The machine is generally used in moist, loose soil rich in organic matter, preferably in courtyards, vegetable gardens, and cultivated fields. According to the seller, a so-called "luxury electric earthworm machine" priced at nearly 800 yuan can easily produce more than ten kilograms of earthworms at a time.

Experts say that earthworms can be used as precious medicines to treat various diseases because they contain earthworm factor, multiple amino acids, vitamins, etc. They can also be sold and used as natural bait by fishing enthusiasts. In recent years, the price of earthworms in the market has increased significantly, which has directly promoted the sales of electric earthworm machines.

Sun Zhenjun, professor at the College of Resources and Environment, China Agricultural University: After the development of high-power electric earthworm machines, the efficiency of harvesting earthworms has increased, causing the amount of earthworm resources to further decrease, forming a vicious cycle. As a result, the price of earthworms, also known as dried earthworms, has skyrocketed. In the past few years, one kilogram of dried earthworms cost about 70 yuan, but now you may not be able to get them even at 280 yuan, and some have risen to more than 300 yuan.

Electric earthworm machine business pays 1.59 million yuan in compensation

The seller should bear joint liability with the hunter

What consequences will the "extermination-style" killing of earthworms have? From a legal perspective, what kind of punishment should businesses that sell electric earthworm machines receive?

Experts say that the electric earthworm machine conducts direct current from the battery into the soil, causing the earthworms in the soil to receive an "electric shock" and then drill out of the soil for people to pick up. In fact, this not only causes indiscriminate harm to the earthworms, but also causes harm to other organisms in the soil. It is a "extinction-style" hunting behavior.

On August 12, 2021, the Zhuhai Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province issued a first-instance judgment against the first "electric earthworm" case filed by the China Green Development Foundation. Three companies selling electric earthworm machines sold hunting tools that allowed buyers to hunt earthworms by electric shock, causing irreversible damage to the ecological environment, and they were required to bear corresponding environmental tort liability in accordance with the law. The court ordered the businesses to apologize and compensate 1.59 million yuan for ecological and environmental damages.

Huang Qibai, a partner of a law firm: The sellers sell electronic traps specifically for killing earthworms, which constitutes an infringement on the environment. They should bear the corresponding environmental tort liability for the acts that damage the ecological environment. The sellers and the killers constitute joint infringements and should bear joint liability with the killers. When determining the amount of compensation for the losses caused by the infringement, it should not be mainly based on the benefits obtained by the infringer due to the infringement. It should be widely combined with the scope and degree of damage to the ecological environment, the scarcity of the ecological environment and the difficulty of restoration to comprehensively consider and calculate the amount of losses, and require the infringer who damages the ecological environment to bear the corresponding compensation liability.

Experts suggest that in order to effectively protect valuable wild animals such as earthworms, it is necessary to establish nature reserves based on the species' living environment characteristics and carry out effective ecological proliferation to ensure the sustainable use of biological resources. At the same time, it is also necessary to optimize the capture method, and it is strictly forbidden to use electric earthworm machines, pesticide flooding and other similar "extermination" methods to kill.

Source: CCTV Finance