There are 56 professional fishermen in the fishing village. All of them have now retired and their fishing boats have been dismantled. Zhou Liang, the head of the village committee says that most of the villagers under the age of 45 have left to seek work in nearby factories. Fishermen like Xia are mostly working doing odd jobs.
His fellow fisherman Xu Baoan from the same village retired and returned to land in 2017, and now works with his wife not far from home."I work on my doorstep and I can take care of the children and the elderly. We still make more than 8,000 yuan ($1,152) a month, which I'm satisfied with," Xu says. "In the beginning, there will be adjustments, but the ban is to protect the Yangtze River's ecology. For the sake of future generations, we have to be brave and take this first step. As long as you are not averse to work, life on the shore will be better."
