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BIZCHINA / Center

Hubei bans pearl farming to restore water quality

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-08-12 09:48

Central China's Hubei Province has banned pearl farming in all lakes,
rivers and reservoirs in an attempt to prevent water quality from
worsening, local aquatic products administration said Saturday.

Pearl farms have covered a total area of 13,000 hectares in the province,
and the annual output has exceeded 400 tons, a spokesman with the
administration said.

Some farmers resorted to pesticides and manure to farm the pearl oysters,
which has caused swathes of algae to bloom in the water, and turned the
water stinky, he said.

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The administration said it would not approve new applications to
establish such farms, and has ordered all water areas used to cultivate
pearls to be cleaned.

Over the past several months, blue-green algae outbreaks, usually caused
by pesticides runoffs and other pollutants, have been reported in Taihu
Lake, Chaohu Lake and the Dianchi Lake in southwestern China, endangering
domestic water supplies.

Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection
Administration (SEPA), unveiled a set of tough new rules early July to
tackle worsening pollution in the three lakes.

The rules include a ban on all projects involving discharges containing
ammonia and phosphorus. He also ordered all fish farms to be removed from
the three lake areas by the end of 2008.

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