Guangdong park buries 10,000 live fish after complaints about pond overcrowding

image courtesy of Southern Metropolis Daily

Guangdong park employees buried 10,000 kilograms of live fish in response to citizen complaints about pond overcrowding Southern Metropolis Daily reported on June 5.

Park employees netted and buried the small silver fish in a Foshan landfill, apparently responding to citizen complaints that overcrowding was damaging the park’s ecosystem. Management concluded that the incredible population of pond fish didn’t allow any room for fish to grow — killing off fish before they had the chance to mature — although, a park employee admitted that no ethical or scientific research was conducted before the fish were buried alive.

This story follows the release of China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection’s “2013 China Environmental Status” report, a profile of the air and water quality of 74 “key” Chinese cities during 2013. According to the report, of the 4,788 groundwater test sites, 59.6% of them had “poor” or “very poor” water quality. Area’s along the Yangtze River, where Foshan is located, are so polluted that acid rain falls on 11% of the land.

Experts said the fish in the Foshan pond are not edible, as the area’s water quality does not meet national standards.