Chongqing- The Yangtze is known as the mother river of China. It provides water, sustenance, and livelihoods for people in the hundreds of millions, while the Golden Yangtze Waterway and economic belt sustain as much as 40% of the national economy.
In the past, the Yangtze River was home to great bio-diversity with over 400 species, including the extinct Chinese Baiji river dolphin and the Yangtze sturgeon that has lived in these waters for 140 million years.
As ecological viability in the Yangtze, its tributaries, and related waterways stood on the brink following years of human exploitation. President Xi Jinping made the strategic decision to implement a ten-year fishing ban in the Yangtze Economic Belt to halt the deterioration trend and restore the environment for the benefit of future generations.
This moratorium is complete without precedent, so many challenges are posed by the lack of previous case examples and the precise need for personnel, resources, and regulation. At the same time, there are nearly 40,000 kilometers of riverbanks in Chongqing Municipality, and over 1 million people are involved in fishing activities to some extent.
For aquatic life to recover over a period of ten years, which will allow species to reproduce for three generations, thousands of fishermen have abandoned their former vessels and come ashore. Meanwhile, academic staff from the local Southwest University regularly monitor the growing biodiversity and improve water quality.
Artificial breeding for endangered species, such as the Yangtze sturgeon, has also played a vital role in the recovery of aquatic species. In 2021, twenty million newly hatched fish were released into the river systems across Chongqing Municipality, and stringent monitoring has been carried out to remove non-native species, cross-bred or genetically modified.
Merely two years into the moratorium, there have already been strong preliminary results achieved in biodiversity and environmental recovery. As the next decade progresses, ecological restoration through policy and innovative solutions means we can look forward to seeing a new Yangtze river brimming with life by 2030.
(Chen Qian, as an intern, also contributed to the report.)