MARA and the Ministry of Public Security (MPS) held a meeting in Beijing on June 29^th, 2020, jointly deploying a special campaign to combat illegal fishing in the Yangtze River basin.   

The ministries instructed that all activities leading to the degradation of aquatic biological resources in the Yangtze River basin shall be dealt with and punished severely and illegal fishing shall be curbed to secure solid progress on fishing moratorium.   

Vice Minister Yu Kangzhen urged agricultural authorities at all levels to take targeted measures to crack down on illegal fishing by the mobilization of all forces while taking into account of fishery resources, scale of fishing vessels and dynamics of fishing operation. He also required furthering joint law-enforcement, better coordination with other departments and cross inspection in combating illegal fishing within the Yangtze River basin. In addition, he emphasized that resolute efforts will be taken to cut off the chain of interest involving illegal fishing, transportation and sale.  

MPS Vice Minister Lin Rui pledged that police authorities along the Yangtze River will organize a three-year campaign to combat illegal fishing with zero tolerance. Illegal fishing cases shall be investigated and brought to justice.   

In recent years, competent fishery authorities along the Yangtze River have intensified investigation on fishing-related violations, with an annual average of over 10,000 cases. In 2019, public security organs investigated over 2300 criminal cases of illegal fishing.