This footage shows scores of fishing washed downriver after a dam opened its floodgates and cunning anglers can be seen cashing in on the action.
The scenes were witnessed in the city of Shangluo, which is in north-western China’s Shaanxi Province, during and after the discharge of the Erlongshan Reservoir.
Video Credit: AsiaWire
Video taken from the banks of the Danjiang River show countless local residents scooping up scores of fish in the muddy water.
Dying specimens are caught using nets or by hand by opportunistic villagers waiting on both riverbanks, the footage shows.
Some are even seen wading straight into the muddy water in order to grab some of fish by hand, with images showing several extremely large catches.
The Erlongshan Reservoir Management Office said the dam discharge on 18th September was its first in two years, and came after recent heavy rains raised water levels.
With the water having not been released since 2017, fish species were able to propagate in large numbers inside the reservoir, the office noted.
Lv Weihong, the office’s director, said the scores of fish are thought to have died as a result of ‘choking’ on excessive sand and mud in the Danjiang River – a result of the four-day discharge which ended when the sluice gates were shut again on 22nd September.
The fish may also have died while being violently ejected from the dam spillway, reports have speculated.
Lv said the large number of dead fish would not affect potable water supplied to downstream towns and cities.
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Story By: John Feng, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Asia Wire Report
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