Policy Digest

Rare Chinese sturgeon released into Yangtze

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs released 600,000 Chinese sturgeon into the Yangtze River on March 28 in Anqing, Anhui province, and Jingzhou, Hubei province, in an effort to bolster the population of the rare species.

Chinese sturgeon, listed as a first-class protected animal in China, is a flagship species for the protection of rare and endemic fish in the Yangtze River. Due to multiple environmental pressures, natural reproduction of the Chinese sturgeon has not occurred since 2017, leading to challenges in sustaining wild populations.