China's iconic Yangtze River basin sees improving aquatic biodiversity

Aquatic biodiversity in the Yangtze River basin in China has been recovering following the launch of a 10-year fishing ban several years ago.

From 2021 to 2024, 344 native fish species were monitored in the basin, an increase of 36 species compared with the 2017 to 2020 period which preceded the fishing ban, according to a meeting held by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in central China's Hubei Province on Friday.

Notably, authorities have been cracking down on illegal fishing and achieving positive results. In 2024, administrative cases related to fishing dropped by 24.7 percent compared to the previous year, with a further decrease of 3.3 percent recorded in the first quarter of 2025, said Zhang Zhili, vice minister of agriculture and rural affairs.

Zhang stressed efforts to accelerate flagship species conservation, enhance the restoration of critical habitats, implement scientific breeding and release programs, strengthen the protection of aquatic organisms, and promote comprehensive ecological restoration of water bodies.

To improve biodiversity along the Yangtze, China imposed a full fishing ban in 332 conservation areas of the river basin in January 2020.

Protection measures were later expanded to a 10-year moratorium along the river's main streams and major tributaries, a ban which took effect on January 1, 2021.

(Cover: A critically endangered Yangtze finless porpoise is seen in Yichang City, Hubei Province, central China, November 11, 2024. /VCG)