2022 is the second year of the full implementation of the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River. According to the results of the 2022 Yangtze River finless porpoise scientific survey organized by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the current population of Yangtze finless porpoise(Neophocaena asiaeorientalis) is 1,249, of which 595 are in the main stream of the Yangtze River, 492 are in Poyang Lake, and 162 are in Dongting Lake.
The Yangtze finless porpoise scientific survey in 2022 is the fourth scientific expedition to the finless porpoise in the entire Yangtze River Basin after 2006, 2012 and 2017. Compared with 1012 in 2017, the number of Yangtze finless porpoises increased by 23.42% in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 4.3%. Yangtze finless porpoises have also been found in some places that used to be blank areas such as the Yangtze River Wuhan Section.
This shows that the ecology of the Yangtze River is recovering, which is exciting. This change is due to the government laws and regulations, management departments, and the efforts of countless volunteers and social organizations.
In 2015, China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF) encouraged fishermen to carry out the defense of the Yangtze finless porpoise and provided financial support. It has successively launched public welfare fundraising projects such as "Forming a Guard Team for the Finless Porpoise" and "Defending the Homeland of the Seawater Finless Porpoise".
Since 2016, CBCGDF has actively participated in the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise, and successively established 11 finless porpoise protected areas in the Yangtze River Basin, spanning 4 provinces, involving11 zones, such as Poyang Lake, Wuhu, Tongling, Balijiang, East Dongting Lake, Yingkou, etc.. Since the establishment of the Anti-Electronic Shock Fish Cooperation Center of CBCGDF, more than 14,000 volunteers have been mobilized and organized in 10 provinces in the Yangtze River Basin to devote themselves to the protection of the aquatic resources and water environment of the Yangtze River, and have helped the fishery administration along the Yangtze River for many years. The departments have carried out joint actions to enforce the law, crack down on illegal electric fishing, pollution discharge, and publicize the protection of aquatic resources, which has played an important role in the protection of the aquatic habitat of the finless porpoise in the main and tributary of the Yangtze River.
In addition, volunteers from various finless porpoise protected areas of CBCGDF are also actively carrying out patrols and publicity activities to promote the full participation of the public in the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise.
In 2019, CBCGDF, together with relevant departments and bureaus of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, relevant aquatic product associations, environmental protection organizations, caring enterprises, and anti-electric shock fish volunteers from all over the country, jointly organized the "2019 Anti-Electric Shock Fish Conference" in Beijing to jointly discuss the further protection of the aquatic biological resources in the Yangtze River Basin, including the Yangtze River Basin. Besides, CBCGDF sent letters to relevant departments and held seminars many times, hoping to retain more and safer migration channels and living space for the Yangtze finless porpoise.
In May 2021, CBCGDF sent a letter to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, putting forward suggestions on its implementation of the largest ex situ conservation of the Yangtze finless porpoise, and sincerely requesting to stop its ex situ conservation plan. CBCGDF received a reply letter from the Ministry on June 1, and was invited to participate in its seminar on the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise in 2021.
Original Chinese Article:https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/UXOUo_MVFpWHCNyTvJ33aQ
Translator: Daisy
Checked by Sara
Editor: Daisy
Contact: v10@cbcgdf.org; +8617319454776
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