Xu Zhuo looks after two red-crowned cranes in Zhalong Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang province, in August. She followed the path of her father and aunt, who both died in accidents while doing work to protect the birds. [Liang Dong/Xinhua] Every day, Xu Zhuo opens her diary and writes down the details of the daily work feeding, breeding, inoculating and curing red-crowned cranes - the same work her father and aunt did decades ago. Xu, 25, turned down a postgraduate recommendation from Northeast Forestry University to become a researcher in breeding and protecting red-crowned cranes in Zhalong Nature Reserve, Heilongjiang province, after her university graduation in 2016. The reserve, covering an area of 210,000 hectares, hosts Asia's biggest reed swamp - an ideal crane habitat. Home to 15 varieties of the birds, and with about 300 wild red-crowned cranes, it was listed as an International Important Wetland Protectorate in 1992. In April 2014, Xu's father Xu Jianfeng died in a motorcycle crash. He had been working in the wetland for two days to protect a baby crane and was exhausted as he made the trip back home. The motorcycle ran off the road and into a ditch. At the time, Xu Zhuo was a sophomore studying horticulture at Northeast Agricultural University. The unexpected death of her father changed her original idea of being a horticulturist in a southern city. When I read my father's diary, I was touched by his detailed record of raising red-crowned cranes since 1997, Xu said. After finishing reading all the diaries, I decided to continue the record. Without hesitation, she transferred to Northeast Forestry University to study wildlife conservation. The university is also my aunt's alma mater, she said. I think it is the best way to cherish her memory. Her aunt, Xu Xiujuan, also devoted her life to the protection of red-crowned cranes at the age of 23. A popular Chinese song in 1990s tells the story of Xu Xiujuan falling into the marsh and dying while trying to save a crane in Yancheng, Jiangsu province, in September 1987. Although I have never seen my aunt, I grew up with the song and her story, which guided my life, said Xu Zhuo. As the third generation of my family to protect the red-crowned cranes, I will continue walking that road. Yang Wenbo, director of the Zhalong Nature Reserve administration, said: With the efforts of Xu's family, as well as many protectors like them, we have got effective methods to artificially propagate the species. We have a population of 430 red-crowned cranes and more than 260 other varieties of rare birds inhabiting the wetland. pure gym wristbandcustom silicone braceletsbatman wristband
Fishermen sort fish in the busy fish market at Tanmen port, the largest port in Qionghai, Hainan province, on May 15, 2012.[Photo/CFP] Fish stocks off the Chinese coast have been effectively replenished this year due to successful bans, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Tuesday. Surveys conducted in August by institutes including the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences showed resources had increased greatly compared with early May, when the bans were imposed, Zhang Xianliang, head of the ministry's Fishery Administration Bureau, said at a news conference. Fish resources increased by 190 percent over the period in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea, more than tripled in the East China Sea, and increased by 70 percent in the South China Sea, he said. The fishing ban, which started on May 1, covered the entire Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East Sea and the South China Sea north of 12 degrees latitude, the ministry said in January. The duration of the ban varied from three months to four and a half months, with parts of the Yellow Sea and East Sea under the ban until Sept 16. This year's ban was the longest since they were first imposed in 1995. Only pole fishing was allowed during the ban. The enforcement against illegal fishing has been the strictest in years, with more than 10,300 people punished, Zhang said. In addition, 1,593 people were handed over to police for possible criminal penalties for fishing ban violations in inland waters, including the Yangtze River and parts of the Yellow River, Zhang said. In one case, two people, surnamed Qi and Wang, were sentenced to eight months and six months respectively in August for fishing with electrical devices in a major reservoir in Beijing. They caught 29.7 kilograms of fish on May 20, the ministry said. Liu Xinzhong, deputy head of the ministry's Fishery Administration Bureau, said China will strictly control the size of its deep ocean fishing fleet, and fewer than 3,000 Chinese fishing boats will operate in deep waters by 2020. Meanwhile, China will establish a blacklist for companies and individuals that violate fishing laws and regulations in deep waters, so they will be forbidden from fishing for a certain period of time, Liu said. [email protected]
