Largest-scale fish release
Shanghai Agriculture and Rural Affairs Commission released 178 Chinese sturgeons and 70,000 mullets to the Yangtze River on Thursday morning in order to increase their stock, the commission said.
The fish release, with the largest scale in the past eight years, was held at a port on Changxing Island, Chongming District. The biggest Chinese sturgeon is about 2 meters long.
All these fish carry PIT chips, T-shaped marks and buoies inside or outside their bodies, which can allow them to be traced more easily. To enhance the tracking, 15,000 mullets were given T-shaped marks before being released, the highest number in the release history.
Chinese sturgeon is one of the nation's top-grade protected species and mullet is a grade-2 protected one.
According to the commission, Shanghai started to release rare aquatic organisms to restore the ecosystem of the Yangtze River estuary starting from 2004.
After some special training, the Chinese sturgeons released to the river can well adapt to the wildness. The construction on the second stage of a Chinese sturgeon protection area at the estuary will soon be launched.
Nearly 200 Chinese sturgeons and 70,000 mullets are released to the Yangtze River to increase their stock.
A Chinese sturgeon is waiting to be released to the Yangtze River.
