On April 9, 230,000 second-generation Chinese sturgeon were released into the river in Yichang, Hubei Province. Why should we protect the Chinese sturgeon? Why do Chinese sturgeon live both in the Yangtze River and in the sea? How long does the Chinese sturgeon live?......
Actual shooting of Chinese sturgeon in Yichang, Hubei Province: More than 200,000 tails were released to the Yangtze River. Beijing News we video production
230,000 Chinese sturgeon released back to the Yangtze River and set off to "go home"
Photo by Zhou Xingliang
The 2022 Three Gorges Chinese Sturgeon Release Activity was held in Yichang City, Hubei Province on the 9th, and 230,000 second-generation Chinese sturgeon set off from the rare fish release point of the Yangtze River, "riding" the "slide" to swim quickly into the Yangtze River and run to the sea where their ancestors lived more than 1,800 kilometers away. 230,000 Chinese sturgeon were released into the Yangtze River, and the number of large-scale Chinese sturgeon released hit a record high.
The event was co-sponsored by the Fishery Administration Supervision and Administration Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of the Yangtze River Basin, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of Hubei Province, the People's Government of Yichang Municipality, and the China Three Gorges Group Co., Ltd., aiming to continuously replenish the resources of Chinese sturgeon in natural waters.
Photo by Liu Kang
The Chinese sturgeon released this time are all sub-second-generation Chinese sturgeon bred and bred by the Three Gorges Group since 2009. The release continues the scientific strategy of combining "medium, green and juvenile", the fish age is up to 13 years old, the minimum is half a year old, and the number of stockings is greatly increased compared with previous years.
Artificial reproduction and stocking is one of the important measures for the protection of fish species, which helps to achieve the continuation of fish germplasm and the continuous replenishment of wild resources.
This event is the 65th Chinese sturgeon stocking by the Three Gorges Group, and it is also the largest number of Chinese sturgeon released since the first release of the second generation of Chinese sturgeon in 2009. Up to now, the Three Gorges Group has released nearly 5.3 million Chinese sturgeon into the Yangtze River.
How old is the Chinese sturgeon?
- A 140 million-year-old Cretaceous relic
- Lived in the same period as dinosaurs
- One of the earliest vertebrate taxa of origin
Chinese sturgeon is one of the oldest vertebrates on earth, once contemporaneous with dinosaurs, with a history of 140 million years, is the flagship species of rare fish protection in the Yangtze River, known as "giant panda in the water" and "living fossil in the water".
How long does the Chinese sturgeon live?
Chinese sturgeon belongs to the sturgeon family, sturgeon genus, commonly known as sturgeon, wax fish. Adult Chinese sturgeon can be up to 4 meters long, the maximum weight can reach 1,000 pounds, and the life expectancy can reach 100 years.
Morphological characteristics
The body is fusiform , the head is large , and slightly triangular. The mouth is large, lower, transversely split, and can be freely retracted. The body has 5 rows of bone plates, which are cartilaginous hard scales, and the dorsal fin is located at the back of the body. The head and body are grey or greyish brown, and the abdomen is off-white. The maximum weight is up to 500 kg.
What are the life habits of the Chinese sturgeon?
- Haihe migratory fish, born in the river, grew up in the sea
Image source: Three Gorges Small Micro Official WeChat
The Chinese sturgeon lives in large rivers and offshore waters, is a demersal fish, and is migratory or semi-migratory.
At the turn of spring and summer, mature Chinese sturgeon find the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then swim upstream to spawn along the Jinsha River upstream, and the hatched fry follow the "footprints" of their fathers and drift into the sea.
Years later, the adult Chinese sturgeon "searches for roots" upstream and reproduces.
- The key to eating Chinese sturgeon is to suck, suck, suck
The Chinese sturgeon sucks food in by the expansion and contraction of the mouth membrane, like a vacuum cleaner, sucking plankton, plant detritus, small fish, shrimp and so on.
Chinese sturgeon feed mainly on small or slow-moving benthic animals, including shrimp and crabs, fish, mollusks and aquatic insects, and are mild carnivorous fish. Due to the different food types of living environments, juvenile fish in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River mainly feed on mosquito larvae, dragonfly larvae, ephemeral larvae and plant detritus, while juvenile fish in the brackish water area of the estuary feed on shrimp, crabs and small fish. Broodstock are not fed during migration. In the offshore waters off the yangtze River estuary, the feeding intensity of Chinese sturgeon increases, usually in the 3-4 grade, and the food is mainly fish and crabs, as well as shrimp and cephalopods.
- The unsolved mystery of the Chinese sturgeon
1. Why do you choose to "endure hunger" during your migration?
The migration process takes nearly two years and travels nearly 10,000 miles, during which it is impossible to eat, all by consuming its own nutritional reserves, maintaining the physical strength to swim in the Yangtze River, and providing for the development of its own gonads.
2. Why is the breeding season different from other fish?
Many fish breed in the spring, but the Chinese sturgeon breeds in late autumn.
Why is the Chinese sturgeon an endangered species?
- The Chinese sturgeon in history
It is widely distributed in the Yellow River, Yangtze River, Qiantang River, Minjiang River and Pearl River Basin.
- Today's Chinese sturgeon
Water pollution, shipping disturbances, sand dredging at the bottom of the river, long-term overfishing by humans, accidental deaths of Chinese sturgeon... As a result, the scale of the wild natural population of the Chinese sturgeon continued to decline, and the Yangtze River became the only distribution area for the wild Chinese sturgeon population.
- Protection level
In 1988, the Chinese sturgeon was listed as a "national first-class wild protected animal".
In 2010, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Chinese sturgeon as an "international critically endangered species".
status quo
Chinese sturgeon have not bred naturally for 7 years in the past 9 years and are at risk of extinction in the wild
Play electronic labels for rewilding training The reporter took you to see the preparations for the release of Chinese sturgeon. Beijing News we video production
The Yangtze River Hubei Yichang Chinese Sturgeon Nature Reserve is the only known spawning ground for wild Chinese sturgeon, and through systematic protection in recent years, the number of rare aquatic species such as finless porpoises in the reserve has continued to grow.
The Chinese sturgeon, the flagship species of biodiversity conservation in the Yangtze River, is losing its ability to sustain itself and is currently critically endangered. Since 2013, the Chinese sturgeon, the flagship species of the Yangtze River Biodiversity Conservation, has not reproduced naturally for 7 years in 9 years, indicating that it is losing its self-sustaining ability and is in danger of extinction in the wild.
Liao Xiaolin, a researcher at the Institute of Water Engineering Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences of the Ministry of Water Resources, said that when a reliable way to restore resource protection and natural reproduction has not been found, carrying out full artificial breeding, building artificial populations, and increasing breeding and stocking are important protection measures for restoring the natural reproduction of Chinese sturgeon in the future.
Artificial reproduction and stocking is one of the important measures for the protection of fish species, and the continuation of fish germplasm and the continuous replenishment of wild resources can be achieved through artificial technical means. "In recent years, the Three Gorges Group has increased the protection of Chinese sturgeon, invested 360 million yuan to build a rare fish conservation center in the Yangtze River, and built the largest artificial population echelon of Chinese sturgeon in China, which has formed an effective support for the protection of Chinese sturgeon species, especially in the current situation where the wild population of Chinese sturgeon is difficult to reproduce and the population is critically endangered, and the release based on artificial population is conducive to the reproduction and recovery of Chinese sturgeon population." Lei Mingshan, chairman of the board of directors and secretary of the party group of the China Three Gorges Corporation, said.
A review of the history of Chinese sturgeon conservation
In 1984
Broodstock were successfully induced using the pituitary gland of sturgeon and the first release was carried out.
In 1985
The use of synthetic hormones instead of pituitary gland induction of labor has been successful.
In 1995
Breakthroughs have been made in the cultivation technology of large-scale Chinese sturgeon, and the survival rate of seedlings has been greatly improved.
Year 2000
A breakthrough has been made in the non-invasive egg collection technology of Chinese sturgeon live.
In 2009
The world's first fully artificially bred sub-second generation chinese sturgeon broke through the membrane at the base of the Three Gorges Dam area, indicating that the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute has the ability to achieve large-scale breeding and release of Chinese sturgeon without relying on wild broodstock.
In 2013
The first artificially induced female nuclear development of the Chinese sturgeon was born in the laboratory.
In 2015
An artificial genetic lineage of Chinese sturgeon was constructed.
In 2017
Preliminary completion of the whole genome sequencing of Chinese sturgeon, and the construction of a genetic DNA information database of Chinese sturgeon.
In 2022
On April 9, the 65th release of Chinese sturgeon, 230,000 tails of the second generation of Chinese sturgeon were released to the Yangtze River. Up to now, the Three Gorges Group has released nearly 5.3 million Chinese sturgeon into the Yangtze River.
Comprehensively compiled from xinhua news agency, three gorges small and micro official micro-signal
Edited by Wang Xiaolin Proofreader Wu Xingfa