Discover China: Locals fishing for fortune in east China

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JINAN, Nov. 18 (Xinhua) -- As sunshine has melted the cold weather away, fishing enthusiasts from all over the country are thronging to Dongping Lake, a national angling base in east China's Shandong Province.

Dongping Lake, stretching an area of 209 square km, is the largest flood storage reservoir in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, China's second-longest waterway. At the convergence of more than 10 rivers, the lake has abundant aquatic resources.

More than 50 species of fish that can meet the demand of anglers currently inhabit the lake.

"Dongping Lake has beautiful scenery, good water quality and fat fish. Fishing here is very comfortable and pleasant," said Hao Weidong, director of the competition referee committee of the China Angling Association.

However, years ago, the lake was plagued by issues such as overfishing, disorderly occupation and indiscriminate digging. The area covered by fish cages and holding pens accounted for more than half of the lake's total area, seriously damaging its ecological environment and landscape.

Sun Peiqing, 47, grew up near Dongping Lake. At the age of 20, he began to raise fish in cages, with his largest farming area stretching 66.7 hectares. As more like Sun also kept fish in cages, the lake's water quality deteriorated.

In 2019, Dongping County launched a campaign to clean the lake water and restore the ecological environment.

During the campaign, 67,000 cages, over 5,300 hectares of holding pens and 1,530 abandoned boats were removed from the lake, and illegal lakeside restaurants and dead aquatic plants were cleared away.

Dongping Lake is now clean once again, providing abundant resources for Dongping County to develop its fishing industry.

Adding to its national base for fishing competitions, the county has so far built more than 500 recreational fishing spots, attracting more than 300,000 visitors annually.

"Over the past two years, with the improvement of our county's ecological environment, more and more people have come to fish," said Chen Zhaojuan, owner of a fishing tackle shop in the township of Laohu. "My business is getting better. I can earn more than 100,000 yuan (around 15,000 U.S. dollars) every year."

In the village of Tangfang, which is close to the national fishing base, local residents are now running agritainment businesses and opening high-end homestays. Tangfang's collective income is growing by more than 400,000 yuan annually.

During the peak fishing season, more than 4,000 avid anglers visit Dongping each day. The booming fishing industry can generate an annual income of more than 40 million yuan for locals.

"Now that the lake is cleaner, our income is higher and life is better," said Chen. Enditem

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