cyndi lauper54SAVING CHINA
in other wordsW
ericclapton>collideith summer here, freshwater crayfish, known in Chine as 小龙虾 (little lobsters) will be scuttling their way to tables around the nation. The culinary popularity of crayfish, cooked with heavy asoning and enjoyed with beer on a hot summer evening, swept the Chine mainland in the late 1990s. Its pleasant taste, availability , and lobster-like appearance have made it a popular dish across the nation. Disturbingly , however, this species of animal is more than a delicacy: it’s an invasive and destructive species. As the title “invasive species” made its way into the newspapers, the nation figured out that this was a pest that needed to be dealt with (or eaten with a vengeance). Unfortunately , right at this time, rumors started to swirl about this strange creature to scare consumers away: some claimed that it was actually a type of worm, others said that it only lived in dirty water and fed on garbage. The prize for most outlandish theory goes to tho who claimed that the crayfish was a conspiracy—a genetically modified species left by the Japane army who ud them as a weapon to dispo of dead bodies (despite the discovery of the DNA double helix coming far too late for that, in 1953). The groundless rumors garnered nation-
wide attention, but the real harm the creatures are causing is
still lost on many .
powerbookCrayfish, or Procambarus clarkii , are native to the Southeastern
United States, most commonly found in warm fresh water,
such as slowly flowing rivers, marshes, rervoirs, and irrigation
systems. In 1927, crayfish made their way from Hawaii to Japan
as food for bullfrogs, eventually making their way to China and
A damaging delicacy and
the borders of infestation
小龙虾作为入侵物种带来
的生态灾难，不是中国广
大吃货能化解的BY SUN JIAHUI (孙佳慧)C RAYFISH INVASION Copyright ©博看网. All Rights Rerved.
55Issue 4 /2015prevention and control methods remain relatively archaic—including the u of pesticides and the introduction of predators.
China’s biodiversity is suffering an invasion of an estimated 544 non-indigenous species, and, according to Liu, of the 100 most threatening invasive species worldwide, 51 can be found in China. Liu also claims that invasive species cau an estimated loss of over 200 billion RMB every year.
In regard to the crayfish, it’s no surpri that authorities have concentrated their efforts on the economic effects of the crustacean rather than the ecological impacts. In some eastern coastal areas, chemical pesticides are ud heavily by fish farmers to eliminate the crayfish, causing no end of havoc on the ecosystems of the area. What’s wor, some of the poisoned crayfish make their way to the market place to be rved at tables around the nation.
The lack of clear and effective laws and regulations in this particular field is cau for concern, but the good news is that the Ministry of Agriculture is planning to propo more specific measures for the management of invasive species, which will hopefully be pasd this year, according to Liu. But, this is just the first step for long-term, effective solutions. For now, the responsibility rests with the Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with other departments like the Forestry Administration and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
respectfully
As always, there is work to be done on the education side of things. Attitudes toward the freshwater crayfish and other invasive species are increasingly polarized; the mere mention of them strikes fear; conspiracy
theories and rumors flourish. There are even tho who think the problem can be solved by simply eating a way out of this mess.
The problem of invasive species is a rious one—a problem that garners more nsational headlines than practical solutions: in 2012, a man in Guangxi got a chunk taken out of his hand by a piranha; the silverleaf whitefly caud total crop failure in Shaanxi Province in 2010; the Canadian goldenrod plant eliminated over 30 species in Shanghai alone; and the water hyacinth has killed untold numbers of fish and has even grown so thick as to obstruct navigation. There is no easy solution to the problems prented by invasive species, but authorities must concentrate their efforts on
pushprotecting ecosystems, stopping the influx of invasive species, and dealing with the already damaging species safely and with care.
deputy
刘飞飞landing in Nanjing in 1929. It wasn’t until the 1960s that the crayfish became known as a source of f
ood. As with many other invasive species, it was promoted as an economically valuable food with little or no regard for the environmental conquences.This small, emingly insignificant little creature has been wreaking havoc on farms and ecosystems around China for a very long time. A hardy species, the crayfish grows and breeds quickly , even in asonal waters—capable of surviving dry spells, salt water, and low oxygen content in water. As it does so, it feeds on a wide range of aquatic plants and fish and outcompetes the native crayfish species. Not only does it throw aquatic ecosystems into disarray , but it is also playing a destructive role with its burrowing. It damages water tables, decreas the stability of small dams, and, for some rice farmers, the crayfish ems an almost insurmountable foe. With a history of more than 1,300 years, the rice terraces of Yuanyang County in Yunnan Province, a World Cultural Heritage Site, are being threatened by this tiny , edible freshwater crustacean. The crayfish there can be found over a meter under the soil, causing the terraced fields to leak water and making the growing of crops nearly impossible. The Hangzhou Daily reported that the crayfish there have destroyed some 30,000 mu (20 square kilometers) of rice paddies, all now full of crayfish holes, rendering them quite uless for growing rice. Also, the China Daily reports that the local government has allocated 1.1 million RMB (176,880 USD) every year since 2012, enough to kill 3.7 million crayfish each year; the authorities also issued rules stating that crayfish farming is not allowed in terraced fields and that no gay asian
crayfish should be sold. All of this was the result of a single migrant worker to Yunnan who made the unfortunate decision to rai them on his rice paddy for a bit of extra cash.Overall, China ems ill-equipped to deal with invasive species such as the crayfish. Indeed, Dr. Liu Wanxue from the Center for Management of Invasive Alien Species says that China didn’t have in-depth rearch dedicated to invasive species until 2000. “In the last century , we didn’t have invasion biology . What we did was just pest control in general,” says Liu. “It wasn’t until 2002 that the 973 Program started, and then invasive species rearch got off the ground in China.” While academic achievements in monitoring and risk evaluation have made great strides, the practical Copyright ©博看网. All Rights Rerved.
