Chinese netizens are ready to give Danish people a hand as the Royal Danish Embassy in China posted an article on Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter, calling for Chinese people to save a Danish beach which is occupied by thousands of Pacific oysters.
The Royal Danish Embassy in China claimed on Monday that the Pacific oysters’ population has exploded, surpassing the local species.
The Royal Danish Embassy in China's Weibo post. /Screenshot from Weibo
The invaders have raised people’s concerns about the ecological impacts, with locals and experts complaining to the Danish Nature Agency.
"I think the government had to deal with the difficulty in 2010, otherwise there won’t be such a big trouble. I don’t mean the authority hasn’t done anything, but we didn’t grab the chance,” professor Jens Kjerulf Petersen from the Danish Shellfish Centre told Politiken, a Danish newspaper.
According to Politiken, Hans Erik Svart, a biologist from the Ministry of Environment and Food, responded to the professor saying that he did not give any useful suggestions and that authorities have no effective solution.
Authorities have encouraged people to eat or hunt the oysters, but this move has proven ineffective.
However, Chinese netizens have shown their love for oysters on Weibo. According to the ZhiYan organization, Chinese people consumed over 4,574,300 tons of oysters in 2015, an increase of 5.1% compared to 2014.
“How about losing the Denmark visa or providing a new 10-year visa for us to eat oysters? I guess maybe in 5 years the oysters will be consumed totally,” @lichunliangLeon commented on Weibo.
“I’m in Denmark but I didn’t hear about this case. Where is the beach? I’ll catch them on the weekend,” @xitubudui noted.