Green Junction - The Fair Management of Resources

The Yangtze in China is known as the country’s “Mother River.” It is the longest river in China and the third longest river in the world, behind the Nile and Amazon Rivers. Over the past several decades, China’s advancements to become the second largest economy in the world were accompanied by marked environmental and ecological degradation, and this included the Yangtze River. It experienced a biodiversity crisis, the loss of fish and other aquatic life due to industrialization along the river, pollution and overfishing. Too address the crisis, the government put an extreme policy in place in 2021, a basin-wide commercial fishing ban in hopes to restore water quality and the fishing industry.

                Early assessments of the 10-year ban were recently done by an international team of researchers. They compared biomass and biodiversity across 57 sections of the river and determined that the fish populations doubled since the legislation was put in place five years ago.  The ban has also improved water quality and reduced underwater noise from boat propellers. Interestingly, the researchers highlighted the ongoing threat of microplastics in the water, which affects water quality and biodiversity.

                The ban on fishing distressed the livelihood of 230,000 fishermen who depended on the river; they were resettled. According to one of the analysts, “the biggest take home is let’s do a better job of managing our freshwater rivers so we never have to consider full fishing bans as the medicine.” Protecting fresh waters and other natural resources can be done in context with a thriving economy. The field of Environmental Economics focuses on the management and allocation of natural resources to ensure long-term health and sustainability. Ecosystem services (gifts of nature), such as clean, fresh water, should be assigned a monetary value to ensure protection and preservation, according to environmental economics. The fair management of resources also requires respect and honor for nature and one another.