长江十年不打鱼
Why did China ban fishing on the Yangtze?
Name: ________________ Date: ________
长江里曾经有一种白色的海豚，叫白鳍豚。它在长江里生活了很多年。可是二零零六年，科学家在长江里找了好几个星期，一只也没有找到。白鳍豚很可能已经永远离开了。
为什么会这样？打鱼的人太多，江里的船越来越多，水也变脏了。人们担心，下一个消失的，会是长江里另一种可爱的动物：江豚。江豚的嘴角往上，看起来总像在笑，所以有人叫它“微笑天使”。
二零二一年一月一号，中国开始在长江的重点水域禁渔十年。这意味着，十年里不能在这些地方打鱼。大约十一万条渔船上了岸，二十多万渔民要换一种生活：有的去工厂上班，有的开了小饭馆，有的每天在江上巡逻，帮忙抓偷偷打鱼的人。
几年过去了，变化开始出现。二零一七年，长江里的江豚大约有一千零一十二头；到了二零二二年，数字变成了一千二百四十九头。这是几十年来第一次变多。
十年禁渔要到二零三零年才结束。到那时候，长江会是什么样子？你觉得，保护一条河，最难的是什么？
Key words
| Word | Pinyin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 生活 | shēnghuó | life; to live |
| 离开 | líkāi | to leave; to depart; to go away from |
| 船 | chuán | boat; ship |
| 变 | biàn | to change; to become; change; transformation |
| 脏 | zāng | dirty; filthy |
| 担心 | dānxīn | to worry; to be anxious |
| 可爱 | kě’ài | cute; lovely; adorable |
| 动物 | dòngwù | animal |
| 总 | zǒng | chief; general (as in 总部) |
| 像 | xiàng | like; as |
| 地方 | dìfang | place |
| 换 | huàn | to change; to replace |
English (for the teacher)
The Yangtze once had a white dolphin called the baiji. It lived in the Yangtze for a very long time. But in 2006, scientists searched the river for several weeks and did not find a single one. The baiji has most likely gone for ever.
Why did this happen? Too many people were fishing, there were more and more boats on the river, and the water became dirty. People feared that the next to disappear would be another lovable Yangtze animal: the finless porpoise. The corners of a porpoise’s mouth turn up, so it always seems to be smiling, and some people call it the “smiling angel”.
On 1 January 2021, China began a ten-year fishing ban on key waters of the Yangtze. That means no fishing in those places for ten years. About 110,000 fishing boats came ashore, and more than 200,000 fishers had to change their way of life: some went to work in factories, some opened little restaurants, and some now patrol the river every day, helping catch people fishing in secret.
A few years on, changes began to appear. In 2017 the Yangtze had about 1,012 finless porpoises; by 2022 the number was 1,249. It was the first rise in decades.
The ten-year ban only ends in 2030. What will the Yangtze look like by then? What do you think is the hardest part of protecting a river?