China will prolong and expand fishing bans in the Yellow River basin under a policy drive to revive aquatic ecosystems and replenish fishing resources, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said on Wednesday. 

The ministry has recently issued a circular expanding the ban to cover three additional primary tributaries, bringing the river's main stream and 13 major tributaries under the ban, aiming to restore fish stocks and promote sustainable fisheries.

Year-round fishing bans will apply in the river's source area and upstream key waters from January 1, 2026, to December 31, 2030. A seasonal moratorium will be enforced from April 1 to July 31 each year from the Ningxia section downstream to the river's estuary.

Except for limited quota-based fishing in designated waters and for specific species, all productive fishing activities will be prohibited during the ban periods and in restricted areas.

The ministry noted that the fishing ban, in place since 2018, has helped protect aquatic resources and promote high-quality development of the fishery sector.

However, the overall declining trend in fishery resources in the Yellow River basin has yet to be fundamentally curbed, making it necessary to continue the ban, the ministry said.

The ministry will work with nine provincial-level regions along the river to strengthen law enforcement and ensure effective protection of fishery resources.

The policy mirrors the successful 10-year fishing ban, active from 2021 to 2030, on the Yangtze River, reflecting China's ecological civilization strategy. 

The Yellow River, one of the cradles of Chinese civilization and honored alongside the Yangtze as a "Mother River," feeds about 12 percent of China's population and irrigates 17 percent of the country's arable land.

The major waterway supplies water to more than 50 large and medium-sized cities.