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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
At a January 30 press conference by the State Council of the People's Republic of China dedicated to the midterm assessment of the ten-year fishing moratorium in the Yangtze River, journalists were informed that the health of the Yangtze River lake dolphin—the river's only current freshwater cetacean—directly reflects the health of its ecosystem. According to a special study conducted in 2025, the lake dolphin population has recovered to 1,426 individuals, an increase of 177 compared to 2022.
As reported by the Deputy Minister of Agriculture and
According to Zhang Zhili, Director of Agriculture and Natural Resources of the People's Republic of China, a permanent ten-year fishing moratorium has been in effect in key waters of the Yangtze River basin since January 1, 2021. Five years after its full implementation, 15 provinces and cities along the river have ensured consistent compliance with the restrictions and achieved positive interim results.
Lake dolphin numbers aren't the only ones demonstrating recovery. For two years in a row, Chinese sturgeon releases have exceeded 1 million individuals, and experiments with natural spawning of Korean sturgeon have been successfully conducted, marking a major step toward restoring their natural population. Between 2021 and 2025, 351 fish species were recorded in the Yangtze River basin—43 more than before the moratorium. Furthermore, the trend toward smaller fish populations has been effectively curbed, and the integrity index of aquatic biological resources has significantly improved.
"Despite the results achieved, we also see that restoring aquatic biodiversity in the Yangtze is a long and gradual process, and many challenges remain to be overcome in terms of protection," Zhang Zhili noted. He emphasized that, while strictly adhering to the goals of the ten-year moratorium, authorities will continue to improve long-term management mechanisms, strengthen joint law enforcement, enhance ecosystem protection and restoration capacity, implement policies to support fishermen who have ceased fishing, and consistently advance all measures under the moratorium, ensuring that high-level protection of the Yangtze's aquatic bioresources contributes to the high-quality development of the Yangtze River Economic Belt.
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