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China’s Yangtze River fishing ban brings biomass surge, boosts finless porpoise
Restoration and sustainable aquaculture project held up as model for other major river systems such as the Mekong and Amazon
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Zhang Tongin Beijing
The ecological health of China’s Yangtze River is undergoing a meaningful recovery, just halfway through a 10-year fishing ban to restore the ecosystem, a new study has found.
As one of the country’s vital waterways – and among the world’s most biodiverse rivers – the Yangtze has long supported immense economic and social functions. At its peak, it contributed more than 60 per cent of China’s freshwater fisheries output.
Yet from the 1950s, the river basin faced sustained ecological decline due to overfishing, dam construction, water pollution and heavy shipping traffic. Over 70 years, freshwater catches dropped to just a quarter of historical highs, and 135 fish species documented in previous surveys have not been recorded in recent ones.
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To reverse the decline, Beijing enacted a 10-year fishing moratorium in 2021 along critical sections of the Yangtze, including its main stem, major tributaries, large connected lakes and designated estuarine areas.
The scale of the undertaking was immense: more than 111,000 fishing vessels were recalled and 231,000 fishers were resettled, backed by an investment of more than US$2.7 billion.
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The ban was reinforced by the Yangtze River Protection Law, which also took effect in 2021. It introduced stricter regulations on water quality, sand mining and shoreline restoration.
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