CTG releases 300,000 rare fish into the Yangtze River

China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) will release 300,000 fish, including 6 rare fish species, in the Yibin section of the National Nature Reserve for Rare Fishes in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River from October 24 to November 7. Among them are 50,000 Yangtze sturgeons, a first-class protected animal in China, marking the largest domestic release in terms of number.

The first batch of 100,000 fish fries were released on October 24, ahead of the 100-day countdown to the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.

With the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity around the corner, this event will replenish the wild fish stock and restoring the ecosystem of the Yangtze River, raising awareness of environmental protection.

In recent years, CTG has been carrying out scientific research on the protection of rare plants in the Yangtze River, and has successfully protected more than 1,300 species of such plants. By the end of September, it has mastered the key technologies for artificial breeding of over 10 rare fish species in the Yangtze River, such as Chinese sturgeons and Yangtze sturgeons. The company has released a total of over 10 million rare fish in its breeding and release activities in the Yangtze River.

CTG has also been conducting experiments on ecological operation of cascade reservoirs on the mainstream of the Yangtze River for years. During the ecological operation of the Three Gorges Reservoir in 2021, a total of 12.1 billion fish eggs were spawn in the Yidu River section of Yichang, Hubei Province, including record-high 8.4 billion eggs laid by four major Chinese carps.

During the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan, CTG also launched the Noah's Ark plan to preserve the reproduction and germplasm resources of rare fish through the establishment of a sperm bank, cell bank and gene bank. About 1 million rare fish are expected to be released in the 14th Five-Year Plan period.