Today (April 9), a large-scale release of Chinese sturgeon was held in Yichang, Hubei.
230,000 artificially bred second-generation Chinese sturgeons, that is, the second generation of Chinese sturgeons born from wild Chinese sturgeons through artificial breeding, were released into the Yangtze River. This is the largest release in the past few years.
Satellite tracking markers record migration data of Chinese sturgeon
The Chinese sturgeon released this time are all relatively large in size, and the oldest is 13 years old, close to adult Chinese sturgeon, and the number reaches as many as 10.
Increased their wild survival rate after being released.
It is understood that a total of 250,000 Chinese sturgeon were released this year.
All Chinese sturgeons were marked with in vitro tracking and identification markers before being released, and 13 large Chinese sturgeons also carried satellite tracking markers, which enabled the migratory trajectories of Chinese sturgeons to be recorded.
How did the second-generation Chinese sturgeon be bred? Where are the parents?
Chinese sturgeon is a unique and rare fish in my country, and it belongs to the first-class national protected animal.
The parents of the second-generation Chinese sturgeon released this time are artificially bred offspring Chinese sturgeon, and these offspring are a very precious germplasm resource bank.
Zhang Jianming, senior engineer at the Yichang Experimental Station of the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of the Three Gorges Group: At present, there are more than 170 offspring groups domesticated by the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute, which are divided into two age groups. Among them, there are 16 Chinese sturgeon offspring in 2001 and before. From 2006 to 2008, there were 157 Chinese sturgeon in the first generation, and the largest individual weighed more than 300 kilograms.
Beginning in September last year, researchers selected 5 mature broodstock from these first-generation Chinese sturgeons, and artificially propagated more than 600,000 second-generation Chinese sturgeon seedlings in 4 batches.
In the past six months, through careful control of water temperature and food, researchers have finally obtained more than 200,000 second-generation Chinese sturgeon juveniles with a body length of 15-35 cm, which greatly improved the large-scale release capacity.
Zhang Jianming, senior engineer of Yichang Experimental Station, Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of China Three Gorges Group: Before the release, we also trained the fish's ability to survive in the wild, including the selection of bait, the domestication of water temperature and water flow. After the release, it should be able to adapt to the wild environment better.
As more and more first-generation Chinese sturgeon enter the peak breeding period, and the second-generation Chinese sturgeon joins the artificial breeding echelon, the scale of the artificial breeding population of Chinese sturgeon will continue to expand in the future.
Su Wei, senior engineer of the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of the Three Gorges Group: When the Chinese sturgeon species is effectively protected, it means that the ecological environment along the Yangtze River has been effectively improved.
It is hoped that in the hands of our generation, the Chinese sturgeon can see its natural reproduction in the Yangtze River Basin. This is the biggest expectation as a scientific research and protection worker of the Chinese sturgeon.