Joy as protected sturgeons found at the mouth of Yangtze
Print Edition
RESEARCHERS have found over 500 new born rare Chinese sturgeons at the mouth of Yangtze River this year — a welcome surprise as the endangered species have not been spotted in the river for the last two years.
Shanghai’s Chinese Sturgeon Natural Reserve Area said a total of 545 Chinese sturgeons were found near Dongtan Wetland on Chongming Island on Tuesday.
“We did not find any new fish in the area last year. This year’s number is the third highest since 1982, which means the sturgeons might have found an habitat to spawn in the Yangtze River again,” said Chen Jinhui, an official with the agency.
As a critically endangered species, Chinese sturgeon is protected by the government. In the 1970s, an estimated 2,000 Chinese sturgeons spawned in the Yangtze River every year. The number has dropped to several hundred over the years due to threats to their habitat, including pollution and overfishing.
“We have been worried as we did not spot any Chinese sturgeons in the Yangtze River in 2013 and 2014,” said Zhuang Ping, a researcher at the East China Sea Fisheries Research Institute.
“This year’s findings does not mean that we can be optimistic about the sturgeons’ living conditions, as the ecological surroundings have been worsening for them over the years,” Zhuang told Shanghai Daily.
Most sturgeons spawn in fresh water and migrate to salt water to mature. The sturgeons spawn multiple times throughout their lives. However, after some river work for the Gezhou Dam in the central Hubei Province in 1981, sturgeons’ tunnel for migration in Jinsha River, the upstream of Yangtze River, had been cut off.
Research showed that some Chinese sturgeons found a new habitat at the downstream of Gezhou Dam. However, what stopped the sturgeons from spawning in 2013 and 2014, and then spawning again this year, is yet unclear. Zhuang described it “complicated.”
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