浑浊之海 Murky Waters

On the coast of the Bohai Sea, in the Northeast of China, the activities of heavy industries and off-shore drillings during the last decades have turned this gulf into a very prosperous economic area, in part responsible for the country’s extraordinary boom. On the down side, the region has become an infamous spot for pollution, significantly affecting, among others, the fishing sector. The latter had already been in difficulties because of overexploitation of maritime resources. Yet, in response to an ever-increasing domestic demand for seafood numerous new fish farms have settled along the shores. Experts speak about more than 400 breeding farms in the region.
　　Lao Li is one of the kings of the fishing sector. He decided to literally follow the slogan in force since the economic reforms: to become as rich as possible! Present here already for a few years, he produces small fry and breeds different seafish. With about thirty employees working on his farm, helped by his nephew, and a faithful foreman taking care of the workers, he concentrates on management issues and “delicate missions”. If the breeding of fish can be lucrative, it is also expensive and requires specific skills: sharp water management to insure its cleanliness as well as the proper temperature and salinity. It also asks for an important quantity of small fish to feed the bigger ones. It needs careful surveying every day, or else fish become sick or die one after the other. Food safety for future customers is at stake. It is thus not easy to grow rich in so dirty waters…
　　While thin and large tubes, open-air tanks and covered ponds are crowding the horizon, local natural resources are dangerously diminishing: aquifers dry out, the quality of the sea water deteriorates, the fish resources are shrinking: the system is clearly running towards disaster. Nobody knows until when… Perhaps the plan to build a highway along the coast will put an end to this situation?
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　　中国の渤海（ボッカイ）沿岸にある、河北省の唐山市。多数の養殖場が建ち並ぶ海岸沿いに、地元でもよく知られた李さんの養殖場がある。李さんは屋内に１５０のタンク、屋外に数十万平方メートル分の養殖槽を持ち、そこで育てたヒラメやフグ、エビなどを近隣の都市だけでなく上海や広東にまで卸している。３０人の従業員を抱え、一見すると商売は繁盛しているようだが、李さんの心配はつきない。タンクの水質や温度の管理を２４時間体制で行っても、魚が病気になることは少なくない。
　　もう一つの心配は、エサに使う魚が獲れなくなっていることだ。近年、海洋汚染や乱獲により渤海の漁獲量は激減。そのうえ養殖場が増加してエサ用の魚の需要は急増している。李さんは地元の漁師にごちそうを振る舞って新鮮な魚を確保しようとするが、魚が高騰し続ければ他の養殖業者のように安くて品質の悪い魚を買うしかない。追い打ちをかけるかのように、養殖場を横切る高速道路の建設計画が持ち上がった。
　　李さんは、養殖場を存続させることができるのか。生き残りをかけて闘う一人の養殖業者の姿を通して、近海の水産資源の枯渇によって新たな漁業のあり方が模索されている中国の実情を伝える。