River workers held in illegal fishing case

Credit: Ti Gong

Ten people have been caught for alleged illegal fishing in the Yangtze River, with some of them river infrastructure maintenance workers, Shanghai police said on Monday.

Since the beginning of the year, fishing has been banned on the Shanghai part of the river for 10 years since the beginning of the year to preserve fish stocks and the ecological system.

Police in the Pudong New Area began an investigation in September after discovering that some people were using electric devices to fish in the Dongtan coastal region of the Lingang area.

The suspects, led by a man surnamed Pan who was in charge of the maintenance of river infrastructure in this section of the river, are alleged to have been fishing there day and night, selling their catch to others.

A police raid on November 30 netted over 450 kilograms of fish, three sets of electric fishing devices and three unregistered boats.

The suspects, who police claim have confessed, are under detention. 

Credit: Ti Gong