On February 28, at the press conference of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs to introduce the series of special enforcement actions of "China's Fishery Administration Bright Sword 2022" and the phased results of the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River, the scientific investigation data of the Yangtze finless porpoise in 2022 was officially released, and the number of Yangtze finless porpoises recovered, with the latest population being 1,249, including about 595 in the main stream of the Yangtze River, about 492 in Poyang Lake and about 162 in Dongting Lake. Compared with 1012 head in 2017, the number of 5-year increases by 23.42%, with an average annual growth rate of 4.3%.
The Yangtze finless porpoise, endemic to China, has a cute and lively temperament, is currently the only aquatic mammal remaining in the Yangtze River, has lived in the Yangtze River for about 50,000 years, and is the flagship species and indicator species of the Yangtze River ecosystem. Their number directly reflects the health of the Yangtze River ecosystem.
However, in the past 40 years, the population of the Yangtze finless porpoise has declined dramatically. In the early 90s, there were about 3,600 finless porpoises in the Yangtze River, which plummeted to about 1,800 in 2006 and only about 1,045 in 2012. According to 2017 scientific research data, only about 1,012 Yangtze finless porpoises remain.
From 2017 to 2022, in 5 years, the continuous decline of the finless porpoise population has not only been reversed, but also increased, and behind the seemingly simple numbers, tens of thousands of backs are guarding, shouting, running and cultivating...
The population growth of the Yangtze finless porpoise is the trend of the times
In January 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping first proposed the protection of the Yangtze River at the Chongqing Yangtze River Economic Belt Work Conference. In December, the Ministry of Agriculture officially released the Action Plan for the Rescue of the Yangtze River Porpoise (2016-2025) and entered the implementation stage, putting forward the goal of "basically maintaining the relative stability of the natural population of the Yangtze finless porpoise in the main stream of the Yangtze River and the two lakes, and the decline rate of the natural population should be significantly reduced".
Starting from January 1, 2021, the Yangtze River Basin began a ten-year year-round fishing ban, which has become a key measure to reverse the deterioration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River.
The clarion call for the protection of the Yangtze River follows the spring breeze of the times, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the competent departments and protected areas of the provinces (municipalities and districts) along the river have vigorously grasped the implementation, all scientific research units have stepped up research, environmental protection public welfare organizations are also actively taking action, and social organizations represented by Alxa SEE Ecological Association and CCF have actively carried out scientific popularization of finless porpoise protection to promote the continuous improvement of public awareness of environmental protection. In addition, the promotion of the patrol system in the entire Yangtze River basin and the continuous improvement of the system and legal guarantees represented by the formal implementation of the Yangtze River Protection Law have brought the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise into a new stage of protection.
Since the fishing ban, the decline of fishery activities and the increase in aquatic biological resources, especially the abundance of small fish resources, have made the Yangtze finless porpoise have more abundant food, and the habitat environment of the Yangtze finless porpoise has gradually improved.
Thank you, all the Guardians
In the action of protecting the Yangtze finless porpoise, the agricultural authorities of all provinces, cities and counties, under the leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs River Basin Supervision and Management Office, have implemented the fishing ban policy, coordinated various protection measures, and made unremitting efforts for green waters and green mountains. The scientific research departments of various research units are also stepping up research work to provide more scientific guidance for conservation practice. Protected areas are also strengthening their conservation measures and carrying out effective conservation actions in a problem-oriented manner.
Among the many protectors, there are also fishermen, NGOs, caring enterprises, and thousands of members of the public.
In order to protect the finless porpoise and restore the ecology of the Yangtze River through conservation actions on the ground, in 2016, the Alxa SEE Yangtze River Project Center, the Contemporary Public Welfare Foundation and the Alxa SEE Xiaoxiang, Jianghuai and Donghai Project Center jointly launched the "Retaining the Smile of the Yangtze River" project, which was officially launched in 2017 by the Beijing Entrepreneur Environmental Protection Foundation, and CCF is responsible for the specific implementation. Assisting patrols, small dolphins and big love, and dolphin crossing projects are the three main areas of the project.
The 10-year ban on fishing in the Yangtze River involves 231,000 fishermen who have returned to the shore and urgently need to switch to production and industry. In this context, the Assisting Patrol Project was born. The project is an ecological transition project initiated by CCF and fully funded by CCF under the leadership of the Fisheries Administration Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs. In June 2017, the pilot of the assisted patrol project began, allowing some fishermen with thoughts and feelings to turn into assistant rangers, and use the porpoise butler APP supported by CCF to assist the fishery administration in combating illegal fishing and other actions, jointly protecting flagship species such as finless porpoise, Chinese sturgeon, and Yangtze sturgeon, and contributing to the protection of the Yangtze River.
Through a four-year pilot demonstration, the project transformed fishermen into assistant rangers, which not only solved the livelihood of fishermen but also increased the "group management force" of the Yangtze River protection. In 2020, after assisting patrols was elevated to a national policy, CCF continued to support the training course for assisting patrol backbones, the selection of the Excellent Assisting Ranger Award, and the Assisting Patrol Butler APP.
Starting from January 1, 2021, the Yangtze River Basin began a ten-year year-round fishing ban, which has become a key measure to reverse the deterioration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River.
The clarion call for the protection of the Yangtze River follows the spring breeze of the times, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the competent departments and protected areas of the provinces (municipalities and districts) along the river have vigorously grasped the implementation, all scientific research units have stepped up research, environmental protection public welfare organizations are also actively taking action, and social organizations represented by Alxa SEE Ecological Association and CCF have actively carried out scientific popularization of finless porpoise protection to promote the continuous improvement of public awareness of environmental protection. In addition, the promotion of the patrol system in the entire Yangtze River basin and the continuous improvement of the system and legal guarantees represented by the formal implementation of the Yangtze River Protection Law have brought the protection of the Yangtze finless porpoise into a new stage of protection.
There is still a long way to go to protect the finless porpoise
At the press conference, Ma Yi, director of the Fishery Administration Office of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and the River Basin Fishery Administration, said that in general, since the implementation of the fishing ban, the aquatic biological resources of the Yangtze River have recovered well, and the level of aquatic biodiversity has improved. However, the overall low aquatic biodiversity of the Yangtze River Basin, the severe endangered status of rare species, the large number of alien species, the poor connectivity of water systems and the habitat of aquatic organisms have not been fundamentally improved, and it is still necessary to unswervingly implement the ten-year fishing ban on the Yangtze River and carry out systematic protection in an overall manner.
In the historical development of natural selection, human activities have brought disaster to countless species, we should not only draw the nourishment of genetic continuity from nature, but also be grateful and awe-inspiring, and give more feedback and care to nature. The Yangtze finless porpoise is a spirit living in the natural world, they are tenacious in the survival of the fittest, whether they can live better and longer, but also represents the good degree of the ecosystem represented by the waters of the Yangtze River, and the continuation of human beings also depends on a good ecological environment system.
To protect the Yangtze finless porpoise is to guard our common home.
Source: Yangtze River Ecological Conservation Foundation
Photo by Yang He
Responsible editor: Dabai