Campaign launched to protect the Yangtze

A campaign has been launched by the Yangtze River Ecosystem Protection Strategic Research Center at Shanghai Ocean University, Alibaba Local Life and Alibaba Philanthropy to protect aquatic life and the river basin ecosystem.

The three will integrate big data, intelligent technologies and other resources from Alibaba and coordinate with government departments, scientific research institutions and universities to work out a long-term scheme to protect aquatic life in the Yangtze and the ecosystem of its basin. They will also promote public awareness of the fishing ban, as well as aquatic life and biodiversity protection in the river and help fishermen to find other employment after their withdrawal from fishing.

The campaign will expand to the provinces of Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Guizhou, Yunnan, Henan, Qinghai, Shanxi and Gansu, as well as the city of Chongqing.

Li Jiale, vice president of the university and director of the research center, said this year marked the start of a 10-year fishing ban in the Yangtze and the withdrawal of many fishermen from the industry.

“But there are challenges in front of us, including whether we can retain the fishermen on the land and help them live a better life,” he said. “Protection of the Yangtze requires not only regulations and policies issued by the state administrative organizations, but also participation of the whole society. Shanghai Ocean University will continue to use our academic strength and integrate resources to make bigger contributions to protecting the ecological security of our nation.”

Li’s research center was established in 2018 by the university and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ Yangtze River Fisheries Administration to protect aquatic wildlife and conduct research in the river.

Taking advantage of the university’s strength in various relevant disciplines, the center carries out research to provide technological support and consultation services for authorities in areas including fishery policy and regulation, aquatic living resources, the river ecological environment, fishery supervision and law enforcement, the fishery economy and public administration.