CCTV News: Danjiangkou Reservoir spans Hubei and Henan provinces and is the water source for the national South-to-North Water Diversion Project. Ten years ago, Danjiangkou Reservoir banned cage farming, and wild fish can only be caught within the specified areas and time each year. More than 8,000 fishermen came ashore in Xichuan County, Henan Province.

Huanhu Village in Xianghua Town is an immigrant village, and all the fishermen who came ashore still lived here. When the reporter came to the village, it was the fishing period in Xichuan County, Danjiangkou Reservoir. In the aquatic processing cooperative in the village, customers came and went, and orders were one after another.

In front of me, the busy person was Cao Yangling. She was a fisherman who was interviewed by a reporter 10 years ago. It took her a while before she saw us from the crowd.

Back then, Cao Yangling was a famous breeder. Her family had 280 fish cages in Danjiangkou Reservoir. Therefore, when we wanted to remove the cage and put it on the shore, Cao Yangling had the greatest concerns and the toughest attitude.

The emotions of Cao Yangling are very common among fishermen. The cadres came to work from house to house and told everyone that fish farming in cages will pollute the water quality, and Xichuan County is the water supply outlet of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project and is also a national first-level water source protection area.

After the fishermen came ashore, the local government carried out professional skills training for chefs, drivers, and car repairs. Those who are willing to start their own business will also be given interest subsidized loans, and fishermen who have landed ashore will have new employment opportunities.

After getting ashore, Cao Yangling contracted the fish pond and continued to engage in fishery breeding. Nowadays, tens of thousands of kilograms of yellow spicy diced fish are hibernating in this fish pond, and it can be monetized online during the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2025. When I first started to be farmed from cages and fish ponds, Cao Yangling, who thought he was experienced, paid a considerable tuition fee. It is not only Cao Yangling's family who gets sick, but the common problems encountered by transformed fishermen. After the technician at the county aquatic service center discovered it in time, he immediately came to disinfect the fish pond and sterilize the feed formula for the sick fish.

Working hard to learn new breeding technologies, Cao Yangling's fish pond quickly became popular.

In the third year of his arrival, Cao Yangling was elected as a village cadre by everyone. She led more than 20 villagers to set up aquatic processing cooperatives, from fighting alone to investing in dividends and operating in groups.

Cao Yangling, who has changed her identity, understands not only the demands of the villagers, but also the responsibilities of being a grassroots cadre. She led everyone to learn live streaming and selling goods, run farmhouses, cooperate with surrounding restaurants and hotels, and raise funds to build cold storage for the cooperative. During the peak sales season, we eat and live in the prefabricated houses of the cooperative. We collect and sell fish during the day and calculate accounts at night. Nowadays, during the reservoir fishing season, the cooperative earns more than 80,000 yuan a day.

Cao Yangling introduced that in recent years, the water quality of Danjiangkou Reservoir has been getting better and better, and the industrial chain on the shore has been continuously extended, and everyone has become a "ecological meal".

Say goodbye to the traditional "water float" fishing life. Over the past 10 years, the fishermen who have landed ashore have learned new technologies and opened up new tracks.

There is a clear river of clear water, and the ecology is improved and the fish are jubilant. This place has become an ecological treasure in the hands of the people. With the integrated development of multiple industries in agriculture, culture and tourism, there are more tourists and more popular, and the lives of fishermen are becoming more and more prosperous.