Page 86 - Varsity Special Issue

84 / Photo Feature / 85

in Beitang. Liu’s son, 24, used to work full-time
“Mantis shrimp is the most popu- in a restaurant, lost his job in March
lar seafood here, and the growth can and rejoined his family to do fishing.
never match the demand,” she adds. “Fishing doesn’t make as much mon-
Apart from sharp decline in har- ey as working in a restaurant,” he says.
vest, the pandemic also makes it more Fishing trips for tourists are also can-
difficult for fishermen to make a liv- celled due to the pandemic.
ing. “We only have local buyers. Tour-
The fishermen can only rely on ists from other parts of the country
government subsidy during the sum- have stopped visiting, especially those
mer moratorium. Some young fisher- from Beijing,” Han says. It takes only
men used to look for part-time jobs in two hours to travel from Beijing to
service and construction industry. But Bohai.
it was not easy to find work during the The pandemic has also affected the
pandemic. seafood market business.
“The wholesale price of crabs has
“ doubled. The price is RMB ¥60 (US Tourists take selfie at a dock as all boat trips have been cancelled due to the pandemic.
e to the pandemic.
T
rists take selfie at a dock as all boat tri
ps ha
ou
ve been cancelled du
No matter how $9)to RMB ¥70 (US $10) per catty
(0.5 kg),” says Han Yongqing, a sea-
A fisherman is setting u p his stall after Seafood lovers scramble to buy fish and “
A fisherman is setting up his stall after
y fish and
Seaf
vers scramble to bu
ood l
o
a fishing tri
p.
a fishing trip. fast fish and shrimps as the harvest is n ot en ough f or food vendor market and a former
shrimps as the harvest is not enough for
fisherman. “Demand for seasonal sea-
their demand.
their demand.
The government introduced the shrimp grow, boats We only have local buyers.
four-month fishing moratorium in
1995 to protect the marine ecology, are always faster. ”
considering the situation.
“No matter how fast fish and ”
shrimp grow, boats are always faster.
No matter how many fish are released,
there are always fishermen in boats
waiting to capture them,” Liu says.
September is the best season for
harvesting mantis shrimp. Abundant
yield of mantis shrimp used to be a
major source of fishermen’s income.
But harvest has dropped significantly
this year.
“The harvest weights 2,000 cat-
ties (1000 kg) for a single boat trip in
2000. Yet, the harvest drops to around
500 catties (250 kg) this year,” says
fishermen Han Gui, who is also based
ishermen mingle wi
F
Fishermen mingle with each other when taking rests.
th each other when taking rests.
“
No matter how many fish are released,

there are always fishermen in boats waiting to capture them.

” Bei tang seaf ood market was shu t do wn in late J an uary and reopened recen tl y o n September 1.
Beitang seafood market was shut down in late January and reopened recently on September 1.