Is the Yangtze sturgeon farmed?

Is the Yangtze River paddlefish farmed artificially? Recently, the news about the extinction of sturgeon in the Yangtze River has been hotly searched, and people are sorry for it. Some people even say that they have just learned that this kind of fish has never been seen again. So is the Yangtze sturgeon artificially farmed?

Is there artificial breeding of Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River? 1 Yes, on April 9, 2022, Yichang City, Hubei Province, China organized the release of Chinese sturgeon, and 230,000 Chinese sturgeons grown in artificial breeding ponds were released into the Yangtze River, creating the highest data in history.

In fact, since the professional record, this is the 65th related activity, all sponsored by China Sturgeon Research Institute of Three Gorges Group. Through this activity, the second generation of fry was released. Since 1984 released Chinese sturgeon for the first time, this animal, known as the "fish king of the Yangtze River", has accumulated more than 7 million fry into the Yangtze River water system.

So, what kind of fish is Chinese sturgeon? In the past 38 years, where have all these Chinese sturgeons released in our country gone?

The Living Fossil of Freshwater Fish in China —— ACIPENSER sinensis

It can be seen from the name "Chinese sturgeon" that this is a kind of sturgeon unique to China. Sturgeon is an ancient creature on the earth. As early as 230 million years ago, they have left fossils of life traces. Among the existing 27 species of Chinese sturgeon, the Chinese sturgeon is the most widely distributed and well-known sturgeon in China, and it is also the sturgeon with the lowest latitude in the world.

Acipenser sinensis is a fierce and large carnivorous species in freshwater fish. At present, the largest known Chinese sturgeon is even more than five meters long. Because of their huge size, they move slowly and their metabolism is slow. Acipenser sinensis has also become one of the fish with the longest natural life, with an average death age of 35 years.

Acipenser sinensis has unique value and significance among biological species in China because of its special physiological signs and evolutionary history.

The first is their contribution to paleontology research in China. The earliest species record of ACIPENSER sinensis can be traced back to the Cretaceous period of10.40 billion years ago, and it is one of the most primitive biological species in China. That is to say, in the age when dinosaurs lived, the Chinese sturgeon had already appeared on the earth and appeared in the fresh water of our country today. Moreover, the asteroid that destroyed the dinosaur civilization did not make the Chinese sturgeon extinct.

It can be seen that by analyzing the genes and their evolution rules in Chinese sturgeon, we can get various freshwater environmental assessments in different periods. This is just like geologists can find the soil quality of different ages from the same land and then do the next related research.

Secondly, the current Chinese sturgeon not only has biological research value, but also is an important reference for detecting the ecological environment quality of the Yangtze River basin and many waters in China.

As a large carnivorous fish, ACIPENSER sinensis is one of the species with the highest environmental requirements among all aquatic organisms. In other words, as long as there are traces of wild Chinese sturgeon, it means that there must be food to meet their survival needs in this area, that is, small fish and shrimp. To supply these second-class animals, there must be all kinds of aquatic plants. The next layer is the demand of plants for nutrients in the soil.

So generally speaking, if the Chinese sturgeon is found in a certain water area, it means that the ecological environment is rich in species, the water quality is clean and there is almost no pollution.

In addition, there is the edible value of Chinese sturgeon meat.

All sturgeons are animals that like to live under the water. They move slowly and have a long growth cycle, which makes them accumulate rich nutrients in their bodies. Chinese sturgeon is no exception, its meat is rich in high-quality protein, which has a significant effect on people's health, brain and vision. In addition, the gelatin of Chinese sturgeon also has a positive effect on beauty and skin care.

Where have all the released Chinese sturgeons gone?

1984 is an unforgettable year in the memory of China people. The spring breeze of reform and opening up has achieved initial results, and everything in the country is thriving. It was also from that year that the Yangtze sturgeon research institute funded by the Three Gorges Group began to regularly release fry into the river. By April 2022, more than 7 million Chinese sturgeons will enter the Yangtze River basin.

However, since the relevant work has been done so many times, why is the Chinese sturgeon still on the verge of extinction, so that it will continue to be released every year?

The answer is simple. Those Chinese sturgeons that entered the Yangtze River did not take root and germinated, and soon died.

So, what kind of water environment is the Yangtze River, which makes it so difficult for Chinese sturgeon to survive in it?

The first is the pollution of water quality in the Yangtze River. Since the reform and opening up, China's economic development level has made a qualitative leap, especially the economic belt along the Yangtze River connecting Shanghai, Nanjing, Wuhan, Chongqing and other big cities, which has become a golden waterway to attract foreign investment and open to the outside world. From upstream to downstream, busy cargo ships and cruise ships can be seen everywhere on both sides of the Yangtze River.

But at the same time, the ecological environment of the Yangtze River is being hit hard like never before. Not to mention the industrial wastewater from factories along the river, the exhaust emissions from ships on the river alone are enough to suffocate underwater plants and some fish.

As mentioned earlier, the "King of the Yangtze River", as an advanced predator, has extremely high requirements for the environment. Even in the waters where low-level organisms can adapt, they may not be able to survive normally, not to mention the extreme environment that even their prey cannot accept. Although after hundreds of millions of years of evolution, Chinese sturgeon has already had countermeasures to deal with various harsh environments, but only human science and technology are still poorly understood.

In addition, Chinese sturgeon also has strict requirements for mating and spawning. October in the solar calendar is the spawning season for Chinese sturgeons in the Yangtze River. They do not breed in situ, but return to the upper reaches of the river like many migratory fish. However, the construction of many water conservancy projects such as the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River has greatly hindered the upstream journey of these fish.

Due to the obstruction of water conservancy projects, the mated adult Chinese sturgeon can only rise to the upstream with the current when it is opened for navigation, and gradually find a suitable spawning ground. In this way, the Chinese sturgeon with low reproductive efficiency is facing a more difficult situation, which leads to their task of breeding a new generation only relying more on artificial release of fry.

Of course, compared with these reasons, the fishing behavior of Yangtze fishermen for thousands of years is the biggest hidden danger of the annual number crisis of Chinese sturgeon. Because of the high nutritional value and huge size, Chinese sturgeon is not easy to catch, so their prices have been fried to a very high position.

Driven by interests, many fishermen in the Yangtze River catch Chinese sturgeon by inventing and improving fishing nets and buying new boats. Although Chinese sturgeon has long been listed as an endangered protected animal, due to the negligence of legal control, wild Chinese sturgeon appears on the dining tables of some hotels.

Moreover, even if the Chinese sturgeon is not directly killed, a large number of other small fish will be salvaged, making it difficult for them to survive because of lack of food.

Therefore, in order to protect the wild Chinese sturgeon, it is necessary to take a two-pronged approach, not only to release fry to the Yangtze River basin on time every year in increments, but also to control people's fishing to a certain extent in quantity preservation.

In 2020, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China issued a 10-year plan to ban fishing in the Yangtze River, commonly known as the "No Fishing Order in the Yangtze River". This plan was officially implemented on New Year's Day, 20021year, mainly aimed at the reduction of fish and animals in the Yangtze River basin. This order undoubtedly adds a solid legal armor to the protection of wild Chinese sturgeon, and will provide a reliable guarantee for the actual implementation of various specific measures.

Although the promulgation of the "fishing ban" will cause certain economic losses to fishermen on both sides of the Yangtze River, I believe the government has made full preparations for compensation. Moreover, only by optimizing and restoring the ecological environment of the Yangtze River can fishermen truly have endless opportunities for sustainable development.

About 1000 BC, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, there were records about Chinese sturgeon in China history books. They accompanied the historical rise and fall of the Chinese nation and witnessed the ups and downs of the country's destiny. From the emotional level, protecting them is also a way to protect their own civilization. Only when everything exists can we create the most harmonious and stable global village.

Is the Yangtze sturgeon artificially farmed? Yangtze sturgeon declared extinct. Why can't people avoid extinction through artificial reproduction?

Wei Qiwei, chief scientist of Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, said: At present, there is no successful case of artificial breeding of Yangtze sturgeon. In the past, due to the lack of technical and hardware conditions, the artificially cultured Yangtze sturgeon could only survive for 29 days at the longest. Later, all the conditions were met, but we never caught live Yangtze sturgeon again.

If the Yangtze River paddlefish rescue pool was built earlier and more far-sighted, and it was reared after the Yangtze River paddlefish was captured, then there might be hope for the Yangtze River paddlefish. At present, we have made a lot of technical reserves. As long as we can find the Yangtze sturgeon alive, there is a glimmer of hope.

The main reason for the extinction of Chinese sturgeon is that it cannot reproduce. Sturgeon usually lays eggs in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and feeds and fattens in the middle and lower reaches. However, the construction of 198 1 Gezhouba cut off their migration channels, and the young Yangtze sturgeon can still feed in the middle and lower reaches through the dam, but the adult Yangtze sturgeon can't return to the upper reaches to lay eggs.

Captured Yangtze sturgeon

The second factor is the development of the Yangtze River fishing industry, which makes the big fish and small fish caught in the net, or directly leads to the death of the Yangtze River paddlefish, or leads to less and less food for the Yangtze River paddlefish. This is very important, because the Yangtze sturgeon is known as the king of freshwater fish. Its body length is 7.5 meters, and it needs a lot of food every day to survive. Now the Yangtze River has been designated as a fish-free zone!

The third is shipping, where planes and ships vibrate greatly, and there are more and more ships, and the navigation channels are staggered. Not only the propellers of airplanes and ships may directly harm the Yangtze sturgeon, but also navigation projects derived from shipping, such as waterway regulation, reef blasting and bank protection, have a great impact on the Yangtze sturgeon habitat.

On June 24, 2003, the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences received news that a fisherman accidentally caught a Yangtze sturgeon in Nanxi, Sichuan. Wei Qiwei, the chief scientist of the institute, immediately led the rescue team to the local area. It was confirmed to be a female Yangtze sturgeon, with a body length of about 4 meters and a weight of over 150 kg, and a large number of fish eggs in her belly.

Sturgeon of Yangtze River by mistake

At that time, the Yangtze sturgeon was caught by mistake and moved around on fishermen's boats. It was badly injured, its abdomen was full of congestion, and there were obvious scars on its head and tail. It was disinfected and wound sutured, and then it was put on a fish cage boat nearby.

After a day of feeding, the injury of the Yangtze sturgeon improved, and finally it was decided to release it, and ultrasonic tracking equipment was installed on it. Originally, I wanted to track and monitor continuously, but later, because the tracking ship was damaged on the rocks, I finally lost the signal. Since then, there has been no sighting report of the Yangtze River paddlefish in China.

In addition, habitat loss and fragmentation caused by reclamation, water pollution, urbanization and aquaculture are all important factors that threaten the survival of the Yangtze River paddlefish.

The giant panda in the water, the Yangtze paddlefish.

Alas, the extinction of the Yangtze paddlefish is as serious as the extinction of the giant panda, which is a heavy blow in the biological history of China!

Is there artificial culture of Yangtze River paddlefish? The Yangtze River white sturgeon has been officially declared extinct!

On the evening of July 2, 2022, the World Conservation Union (IUCN) officially announced the extinction of the Yangtze River paddlefish, which means that there will be no wild Yangtze River paddlefish in the Yangtze River valley of China, and there will be one less animal species on the earth, but these creatures have not been eliminated by the evolution of the earth population, but are considered extinct.

In 2003, the white sturgeon last appeared in Nanxi section of Yibin, the Yangtze River, and ACIPENSER davidii was assessed as wild extinction, because it failed to find any young fish except the breeding and releasing population. The root causes of the extinction of ACIPENSER sinensis are analyzed as follows:

One is illegal fishing.

For the sake of economic benefits, humans once fished a lot of Yangtze sturgeon, but at this time, the state did not issue a clear ban on fishing. Residents around the Yangtze River basin make profits from fishing, which is one of the direct reasons for the extinction of wild paddlefish.

The second is habitat loss.

Dams built in the Yangtze River basin blocked their migration routes, and unsustainable sand mining destroyed their spawning grounds and lost their habitats.

There is little hope that the Yangtze sturgeon will recover. Because I haven't mastered artificial breeding and breeding technology. According to scientists from Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, there is no successful case of artificial propagation of wild Yangtze sturgeon. Previously, due to the lack of technical and hardware conditions, the longest survival time of artificially cultured sturgeon was only 29 days.

Due to the deterioration of the ecological environment, the distribution area of Chinese sturgeon is gradually shrinking, the number is also decreasing year by year, and the individuals are getting smaller and smaller. At present, China has the relevant breeding conditions, but no live Chinese sturgeon has been captured.

Since 2003, researchers have not found more paddlefish, and there are no artificially bred individuals. But people still have a glimmer of expectation. It may be unknown whether we can see the Yangtze River paddlefish again in the future, but some fishermen believe that paddlefish still exist in some waters of the Yangtze River.

Generally speaking, the Yangtze sturgeon became extinct in 2022. On the evening of July 2 1, the World Conservation Union announced the extinction of the paddlefish. The reason for extinction has a lot to do with human beings, and the reason for not breeding artificially is that it is not easy to raise.