A fishing ban on the whole of Boyang Lake, the largest freshwater lake in China, will take effect this Spring.
All fishing boats will be banned on a 333,000-hectare area of the lake which is in east China's Jiangxi Province from March 20 to June 20.
The ban aims to protect fishery resources at Boyang Lake as March is the breeding season for crucian and carp, said Qian Xin'e, deputy director of the Jiangxi Provincial Fishery Administrative Bureau.
The fishing ban was first started in 1986 with the aim of protecting the ecological environment and marine resources. Because of the efforts over the years with strict supervision of the fishing area and the prohibition of all fishing activities during the period, the environment has been greatly improved.
It is reported that an experimental Spring fishing ban will be imposed on some major tributaries of the longest river in China, the Yangtze, this year.
(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2002)