Chinese police bust illegal fishing group on Yangtze

WUHAN -- Police in Central China's Hubei province have arrested 10 people for suspected illegal fishing on the Yangtze River, seizing a haul of fish weighing over a tonne.

Police in Wuhan, the provincial capital, said Monday that the group used banned fishing equipment for illegal fishing in a local section of the Yangtze River.

After receiving a tip-off about the group in early August, the police launched a raid and caught the suspects in action on the early morning of Aug 19. Five vehicles and one boat were also confiscated.

The banned fishing equipment enabled the group to catch over 1 tonne of fish in a single night, according to the police.

At the start of this year, China began a 10-year fishing moratorium in 332 conservation areas in the Yangtze River basin. It will be expanded to all the natural waterways of the country's longest river and its major tributaries no later than Jan 1, 2021.