Fishermen bug out

By The Legal Mirror Source:Global Times Published: 2014-7-24 19:13:01

A fisherman wearing a leather fishing suit looks at the dirt he scooped up, searching for larvae. Photo: CFP



 

Larvae catchers set up camp under a bridge. They usually "fish" by the bank for days and don't go home. Photo: CFP

The captured larvae being crushed and made into fish food at a market. Photos: CFP

Fishermen sell the bugs. They can usually earn 400 yuan per day after hard labor. Photo: CFP



 

Larvae catchers, in the Qinghe river in Changping district, stand in waist-deep water to scoop up the dirt from bottom of the river. Photo: CFP



 



With Beijing sweltering under a hot summer, "fishermen" of sorts have swarmed to the Qinghe river, south of Tiantongyuan, Changping district.

But they are not on the hunt for fish. Instead, they seek out mosquito larvae which they collect to sell as fish food.

This kind of work is usually done by couples. The man is covered in tight leather and dips a net slowly into the river to scoop up the dirt at the bottom of the river. Then the woman takes the dirt, washes it in the river and picks out the red-brown worms in the pile, the Legal Mirror reported. 

Around 2 pm in the afternoon, buyers come to the riverside and the couples sell the larvae, to be made into pet fish food. A couple can make about 400 yuan ($64.59) a day.

The market there has existed for more than 20 years. Dong Zhengquan, one of the larvae fishermen, told the Legal Mirror that the river is dangerous. Even though it's less than a meter deep, it has pebbles, shattered glass and other sharp objects on the bottom.  Furthermore, it gives him arthritis. He told the Legal Mirror he will quit after he accumulates enough money for his son to get married.

 But he's thankful for this polluted river. "When the government cleans the river, we'll be out of jobs," he said.

A staff member from the Beijing Water Authority told the Legal Mirror that fishing out the larvae has no effect on the health of the river, but it's not safe. Right now the river faces flooding periods, and if the workers upriver didn't know there were people fishing for larvae and opened the water gate, these people might face the danger of drowning.

Right now there isn't a way of taking care of this issue, the staff member said. But if the situation gets too dangerous, he will report it to higher officials.

The Legal Mirror

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