陳素珍

Standing on the bow of the boat， Xiao Lyuying， an exfisherman on the Yangtze River， skilfully scooped（用勺兒舀） up a plastic bottle with a fishing net while another boatman steered the boat.

“The coming flood season will see a surge in floating trash and we are going to enter the busiest time of the year，” said 75yearold Xiao.

Xiao， from Qunxin village in the city of Tongling， East Chinas Anhui Province， is the vice captain of a team of volunteers engaged in cleaning floating trash from the Yangtze River. The team， formed in 2019， has more than 50 local exfishermen aged over 60 on the average. They have lived along the Yangtze River since childhood and want to do their part in protecting it while they are still hale（健壯的）. According to Xiao， many fishermen chose to join the voluntary team due to their attachment to the river after coming ashore.

Ma Mingsuo， 60， has been fishing for more than 40 years. He bid farewell to his fishing boat and gear as the waterway， where he used to fish， outlawed fishing for the protection of finless porpoises（江豚） at the beginning of 2019.

A year later， the Chinese government pushed for a 10year fishing ban in 332 key areas of the Yangtze River to protect biodiversity in the countrys longest river.

Upon ending his fishing career， this old fisherman turned to apply his sailing experience to protecting the river.

“I have been staying on the boat for nearly my whole life and its good that my skill can still be used to clean the garbage in the river， which will also benefit my descendants，” said Ma.

Each month， this voluntary team patrols 15 kilometers of waterway three times， between early morning and late afternoon， collecting trash and patrolling to prevent people from fishing on the river.

“There are no other fishing boats besides the ones that collect trash now. Declining with the number of fishing boats is the volume of garbage，” said Xiao.

The trash collected by the team is sent to the garbage disposal station on the shore， while the recyclable waste such as plastic bottles is sold.

In over a year， the team of volunteers grew from 13 members to over 50. As of now， they have cleaned over 50 tonnes of floating waste.

Besides garbage in the river， the team was also in charge of cleaning garbage and patrolling the Tiemao isle of the village. The isle， with an area of over 2，000 hectares， was once an ideal region for crops.

Last year， farmers had to cease farming in the region to restore the area to a wetland， in an effort to protect the finless porpoises.

Despite paying some price due to the fishing ban and restoration plan of the wetlands， local villagers deemed the efforts worthwhile for the longterm benefit of the Yangtze River， according to the team.

“We will continue to protect the Yangtze River until we are too old to steer the boat as its a career deserving our time and energy，” said Xiao.

Critical thinking

What do you think of the exfishermen trying to clean up the Yangtze River？ Can you think of any other ways to preserve the river？