A special video report by Global Times covers the extreme measures that China has taken to deal with the actual pollution crisis in the country, in this case the pollution of the Yangtze River. Beginning on January 1, there is a ten year total ban on fishing in the Yangtze. It is strictly enforced, with cameras and face recognition technology to catch anyone fishing in the river.
The pollution of the river was so severe that the fish were not safe to eat, in addition to overfishing threatening many species, GT reports. People who made their living fishing the Yangtze are being compensated, either by new jobs in the many industries in the region, or through social security. In January alone, $3.84 billion was granted as compensation or subsidies; 129,743 people were transferred to industrial jobs (99.76% of those who chose that path); and 171,626 were given social security.
