In the early morning of Poyang Lake, an old angler came to a familiar fishing spot as usual, and the scene in front of him made him sad: silver-white fish maws floating on the water, and mandarin fish and mackerel that should have been alive and tiger turned their bellies and drifted with the current.

This is not the first time he has witnessed such a tragic situation, last yearspring禁漁期剛結束，同樣的場景就曾在這裡上演。作為有著三十年釣齡的資深釣友，他心裡明白，這肯定是電魚船“光顧”后的結果。

Many people think that electric fish is just a way of overfishing, but modern ecological research has shown that the harm of electric fish is far beyond our understanding. When the high-voltage current instantly penetrates the water body, the electric field strength of each cubic meter of water area can reach 200V/m, which will not only directly lead to the death of a large number of fish, but more seriously, it will destroy the ecological foundation of the entire water.

For fish, electric current breaks down their bioelectric system, which is key to their survival. Research data shows that adult carp that have been subjected to an electric shock take 67 days to recover after their electromagnetic perception has completely disappeared, while juveniles have lost this ability forever once they have been shocked. This means that those fish that survive are like "blind people in the water", losing their basic ability to survive, such as migration, foraging and courtship.

Electric fish can also cause serious damage to the food chain. A freshwater research institute continued to monitor the electric fish area of the Yangtze River tributary and found that after the electric fish operation, the plankton mass decreased sharply by 76%, and the benthic species decreased by 0%. This is like removing the cornerstone of the ecosystem, making it difficult to rebuild the entire ecosystem, and gradually moving towards "ecological desertification".

The aquatic ecosystem is like a well-functioning "factory of life", of which every species is an indispensable part. And the behavior of the electric fish is like throwing a steel nail into this precision instrument, and the damage caused is incalculable.

Electric fish lead to a drastic reduction in the number of apex predators, triggering a domino effect. In one area of Poyang Lake, electric fish reduced the mandarin fish population by 92%, and small fish that had been controlled by mandarin fish began to breed wildly.

These small fish devoured aquatic plants in large quantities, resulting in a 47% reduction in the water's ability to purify itself, and a shortening of the cyanobacteria outbreak cycle from three years to eight months, and the failure of the ecosystem's self-regulation mechanism.

Even more frightening is the problem of genetic contamination. Research by the Institute of Aquatic Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has found that in waters that are frequently subjected to electric shocks, the stress response fragments of the fish genome are permanently altered. These variant genes continue to spread through reproduction, resulting in a continuous degradation of disease resistance in fish populations. For example, in a basin, the average body weight of crucian carp decreased by 58% and the expression of disease resistance genes decreased by 0% over a decade.

目前，電魚治理面臨著一個尷尬的局面：違法成本與治理成本嚴重倒掛。某省漁政部門統計數據顯示，查獲一艘電魚船，平均執法成本高達3.2萬元，而違法者的設備成本平均僅6800元。這種經濟上的落差，導致了“越罰越猖獗”的怪現象。

However, scientific and technological innovation has brought new hope for electric fish governance. An underwater sonar monitoring system has been deployed in Jiangsu Province to identify the characteristic voiceprints of electric fish boats through machine learning, and the early warning accuracy can reach 95%.

The DNA traceability technology used in Zhejiang can be used to trace the waters where the electric fish operation is carried out from fish samples sold in the market. These technical means have greatly improved the efficiency of law enforcement.

Public participation has also injected a strong force into the governance of electric fish. Chongqing has built a supervision system composed of fishing enthusiasts, and 1270 registered anglers are equipped with professional detectors, providing a total of 0 effective clues. This model of national fishery protection allows supervision to cover every corner of the waters.

The Qiandao Lake basin is a successful example. After five years of integrated management, the catfish population, which was once extinct due to electric fish, has reappeared. This shows that as long as the governance methods are scientific and reasonable, and the implementation is resolute and strong, the damaged ecosystem can be reborn.

When we see those fish carcasses floating on the water, we should not only see an ecological tragedy, but also realize that this is a test of the relationship between humans and nature. Protecting the ecology of the water is to protect the foundation of human civilization.