A joint law enforcement team composed of young members of the public security department and the management department of the Shanghai Jiuduansha Wetland National Nature Reserve has been established in a bid to protect the land from poachers.

By the end of 2018, 403 species of insects, 115 species of macrobenthos, 135 species of fish and 206 species of birds were recorded by the administrative department of the reserve.

In the past, law enforcement at the nature reserve had been relatively weak, making it difficult to effectively crack down on crimes. However, after coordination and communication, the Shanghai Branch of the Yangtze River Shipping Public Security Bureau and the reserve’s administrative department decided to carry out joint law enforcement to crack down on illegal fishing in the area.

In May 2018, Ge Weiwei, deputy director of the Changxing police station, was dispatched to Jiuduansha Wetland National Nature Reserve.

The first time he saw reeds in front of him, Ge Weiwei had no idea how important they were. After ten years as a policeman, he understood their significance: "Illegal fishing boats are small and fast. It’s difficult to catch them if they hide here."

From then on, the policemen patrol almost every day among the reeds.

After months of efforts, in October 2018, after following up on various leads, Ge Weiwei led a team to crack a serious case of illegal fishing in Jiuduansha, seizing nearly 500 kg of fish and arresting four illegal fishers.

Nowadays, blatant illegal fishing during the day has almost disappeared. However, poachers will still try their luck at night.

This means that night investigations have become normal in police work. In order to solve cases, Ge Weiwei and his colleagues often work around the clock, collecting clues on shore and hunting poaching ships in the sea.

"Dealing with a case is a lively lesson in ecological law popularization," said Ge Weiwei, who feels deeply about the issue. With the intensification of the crackdown and the popularization of the law, there have been fewer and fewer cases of illegal fishing around Jiuduansha in the past two years.