It is not just China's economy that's booming, invasive species are thriving here, too. Non-native organisms are arriving in growing numbers, while aquatic ones have caused the most damage to China's marine environment.

Among recent stories of South America's Piranha fish in South China waters, many species have been purposefully, or accidental introduced into China's marine family over time, disrupting the circle of life down under.

The largest fresh water lake in Southwest China's Yunnan province used to be home for over 40 fish species. But now only half of them are surviving.

The culprit is the silver fish--an invasive species from East China waters.Fast reproduction rate, and increasing market demands have made the late-comer a dominate inhabitant. The price of silver fish goes for 50 yuan per kilo.

Wang Pinghua, Villager, Mingxing Village, Yunnan Pro., said, "Native fishes have been sold at 10 yuan per kilo at most as early as 1990s."

Huge profits boosted local economy, but the species also chips away at the biodiversity underwater.

Wang Kezhong, Director of Adm. Bureau of Wuxian Lake, said, "The reproduction capacity reached 3 thousand tons since it was introduced here. It has taken the food and living space of other fish."

The species presence has put dozens of native fish in danger of extinction. Once a must-have dish or attraction for tourists, some native fish are about to disappear.

Wang Pinghua, said, "We caught around 4 tons of native fish per day before the silver fish came, but now it is several kilos at most."

The scarcity has pushed up prices of native fish by over 200 percent. In efforts to fix the rising problem, fishermen tried to trawl the invaders, but they pulled as many native fish as silver fish.

Local authorities have been trying to boost native fish numbers by planting eggs in the lake to try and balance out numbers. But, officials said, the improvement is limited.

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