Conservation efforts help revitalize Yangtze

Editor's note: As protection of the planet's flora, fauna and resources becomes increasingly important, China Daily is publishing a series of stories to illustrate the country's commitment to safeguarding the natural world.

Born in De'an, a county near Poyang Lake along the Yangtze River in Jiangxi province, Wei Qiwei, chief scientist at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, has vivid childhood memories of water and fish.

The 64-year-old used to play in a small river near his home from the age of 3. "For us kids, the river was a place of comfort and fun. We couldn't live without it," he smiled.

More important was that the river provided his favorite food — fish. His grandfather was a fisherman who fished with the help of trained cormorants. "The bird could easily catch fish as there were quite a lot of fish back then."

In stark contrast to his childhood, however, Wei described the remarkable fish scarcity he encountered when he first surveyed the Yangtze from 2017 to 2020 as chief scientist.

"Fishermen hardly had any catch. The money they made from selling fish was barely enough to cover the cost of the fuel," he said, noting that he was deeply concerned about the conservation situation at the time.

A total of 323 fish species were found in the river, with 135 historically distributed in the Yangtze undiscovered, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, which funded the survey.

A few years on, Wei is somewhat relieved because of a 10-year fishing moratorium that came into effect in the Yangtze River Basin on Jan 1, 2020, which is part of a national campaign to promote Yangtze conservation.

Aside from the fishing ban, a series of measures have been taken to conserve fish resources in the basin following a symposium presided over by President Xi Jinping in Chongqing on the issue in January 2016.

The president stressed that concerted efforts should be made to protect the Yangtze, and that the overdevelopment of the river should be banned.

Xi hosted three more symposiums concerning the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Basin thereafter, with the first held in Wuhan in April 2018. At that symposium, the president emphasized properly dealing with the relationship between environmental protection and economic development.

Wei lauded the decision to promote concerted efforts in Yangtze conservation as one "with farsightedness and vision", as fish conservation is not something that can be done by a single institution or government body, and needs participation from all walks of life.