Chen Hualin, a local fisherman in Xiaoting district, Yichang city, Hubei Province, told GT reporters that, because the Yangtze river is polluted and overfished, fishery resources have been drastically reduced and the normal daily catch can barely sustain the livelihood of local fishermen. Although the country said a 10-year fishing ban in key areas of the Yangtze River to protect biodiversity would start from no later than January 2021, Yichang city had already implemented the ban. Since then, Chen’s life has turned around. With the government’s help, Chen set up his own company. He uses ships to transfer rubbish and wastewater to a waste transfer station. He can collect 180 tons of garbage per month and earn a monthly income of 70,000 yuan ($10,690) on average. Chen found that in this way, it not only protects the water of the Yangtze River, but also greatly improves his living conditions. From a former fisherman to a cleaner of the Yangtze River, what has changed is not only his life quality, but also the consciousness of reversing the deterioration of the ecological environment. (Fan Hua and Lü Min contributed to the reporting.Photos by Li Hao/GT)