Zhang Sichun and his team
Before the Qingming Festival this year, another wave of large-headed carp fry was successfully hatched in the jiangchuan bighead carp original breeding station on the east bank of Xingyun Lake. For the birth of these little ones, Zhang Sichun, director of jiangchuan animal husbandry and fishery station, and his team have been busy.
Nebula Lake is a treasure trove of fish germplasm resources in China's plateau lakes. Since the 1950s, a variety of factors have led to the endangerment of indigenous fish in Nebula Lake. Until 2000, Jiangchuan built a 20-acre breeding and protection base, and in 2004, another 3 acres of nebula whitefish population recovery experimental station fish pond was built, and through the experimental study of artificial domestication and breeding of indigenous fish, 7 endangered indigenous fish populations such as bighead carp and nebula whitefish were not only restored, but also returned to the people's table for artificially bred large-headed carp.
The bighead carp returns to the people's table
Nebula Lake indigenous fish bighead carp, is a small fish, the weight of adult fish is generally 0.3 ~ 0.4 kg, because the meat is tender, the head fat content is high, the fish is delicious and loved by people. Since the 1950s, with the change of the surrounding environment of the lake, the invasion of alien species, overfishing and other factors, the original ecosystem of the lake has been destroyed, resulting in many endemic indigenous fish in the natural environment of the lake is difficult to find its traces, most of which have entered the ranks of endangered fish, including the big head carp.
In 2000, the Jiangchuan Aquatic Technology Extension Station built a 20-acre base by the side of Xingyun Lake, collected 325 large-headed carp from all over the place for artificial domestication, breeding, seedling cultivation and other technical research, and Zhang Sichun and his team, who grew up by The Nebula Lake, plunged into it.
Through years of exploration and research, Zhang Sichun's team has solved the key technical problems of protection and development and utilization. Between 2009 and 2020, 10.435 million large-headed carp fry and 32,506.4 kg of large-sized fingerlings were successively released into Nebula Lake. From 2011 to 2021, Jiangchuan District will provide 8548 kg of large-headed carp seed to promote breeding in suitable reservoirs, ponds and dams. Today, the big-headed carp, which was once only seen in specimens, has returned to the table.
56,000 nebulae whitefish return home
In Nebula Lake, there is another indigenous fish, the Nebula Whitefish. Historically, 50% of the catch in Nebula Lake was large-headed fish and 20% of nebula whitefish, but with the changes in the living environment, the number of nebula whitefish decreased sharply after the 1980s, and by the late 1990s, it had reached the point of extinction.
"We proposed to domesticate nebula whitefish, and the idea was a joke to local fishermen." Zhang Sichun said that at that time, the nebula white fish was difficult to find, and even if it was found, it would be difficult to feed.
But no matter how hard it is, you have to try. In 2004, jiangchuan aquatic technology promotion station leased land next to the jumping fish ditch on the south bank of Nebula Lake, built a 3-acre fish pond, and at the same time set up a cage in the jumping fish ditch to trap nebula whitefish, purchased from fishermen, and tried its best to collect the original species of nebula white fish.
Zhang Sichun's team carefully pondered, and quickly found out the living habits of Nebula whitefish, not only fed the Nebula whitefish species collected painstakingly, under their careful care, through artificial simulation of the natural ecological environment, these fish began to reproduce.
Rescue conservation has left the seeds for nebula whitefish, and in these 3 acres of fish ponds, their populations are slowly growing. Between 2009 and 2020, 56,000 nebula whitefish cultivated by Zhang Sichun's team returned to Nebula Lake one after another.
6 rare fish fingerlings are widely bred
In the Jiangchuan Nebula Whitefish Population Restoration Experimental Station on the shore of Xingyun Lake, Zhang Sichun used these 3 acres of fish ponds to retain six fish species, namely Nebula Whitefish, Yunnan Barbed Catfish, Fuxian Four-Whiskered Catfish, Qilu Carp, Flower Perch Carp, and Fuxian Golden Thread Catfish. But the breeding of flower perch is still a problem that plagues Zhang Sichun's team, in 2009, Zhang Sichun's team collected 16 flower perch, and then began the domestication and breeding of flower perch, but in addition to the breeding of 8 flower perch in 2016, there has been no successful breeding. Zhang Sichun told reporters that fish in the breeding season, it is usually easy to distinguish between male and female broodstock, female broodstock have a flat and soft abdomen, obvious ovarian contours and other characteristics, but the slim flower perch even in the breeding season does not have these characteristics, their artificial domestication and breeding technology is still being explored.
Among the 7 rare indigenous fish species domesticated and bred by Zhang Sichun, except for the flower perch, other fish species can be expanded and cultured.
Li Chunli, a reporter of this newspaper, provided a picture by the interviewee
Source: Spring City Evening News