Shanghai set to give sturgeon better protection

Shanghai legislators looking at how to make a law to better protect the Chinese sturgeon as current regulations are considered outdated.

In 2002, the city had set up the Yangtze River Estuary’s Chinese Sturgeon Nature Conservation Area and in 2005 issued special regulations to protect the endangered species.

Since then, officials have cruised more than 45,500 sea miles, driven away over 1,000 illegal fishing boats, boarded and inspected 650 boats, warned and educated 1,800 people and fined people for 25 violations.

Experts say the conservation area is the safest place for a sturgeon. But they add a law is now needed to protect both the sturgeon and its environment more effectively.

With rich natural resources and an advantageous geographical position, there are other government departments at the Yangtze River estuary, causing overlapping in administration and even contradictions or conflicts between different departments.

Meanwhile, the enforcement of the regulations is also believed to be underperforming as there is no explicit definition of what the enforcement team needs to do.

A report released by the Institute of Marine Policy and Law at Shanghai Ocean University suggested the government upgrade the regulations into a law to improve the supervision and protection capacity of the conservation area.

With a history of 230 million years, the Chinese Sturgeon is one of the world’s oldest fish species and often dubbed a “living fossil.”