Wenzhou city has forbidden sale of local supplies of eight species of fish during the period of China’s national fishing ban, which runs from May through September.
The species includes croaker, silver pomfret, ribbon fish, mackerel, and mantis shrimp, as well as marine crabs. Posters displayed around the city warn locals against selling or buying the species in the interests of “public welfare.” Other posters and slogans plastered around the city exhort citizens to “protect the ocean.”
The publicity campaign by the city’s Ocean and Fisheries Bureau is part of “history’s longest and strictest fisheries ban,” according to a statement from the bureau. Wenzhou is one of China’s wealthiest coastal cities and will be casting around for replacement species and imports of staples like pomfret and ribbonfish.
China has been marking the start of fishing ban with an unprecedented propaganda blitz, including public trials of transgressors aired on national television. Simultaneously, China is making an effort to conserve and rehabilitate stocks in its coastal waters.
