Struggle for survival

Wei Qiwei, the fishery scientist, said release work is crucial to restoring the sturgeon population in the wild, but the number of released young sturgeons that can actually survive in the Yangtze is small compared with the total released.

"Only scores of young sturgeons out of some 50,000 can do that," he said.

More than four decades on, the release task force is placing more emphasis on the work's results by stepping up evaluation and research that helps scientists understand the sturgeon's living habits.

"We are now studying the fish's footprint in the ocean, how they migrate in the Yangtze and the effectiveness of the release work carried out in the Jinsha River," Wei said, referring to a tributary of Yangtze River in its upper reaches.

Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs rolled out a guideline specifying the species and locations eligible for fish releases, with the aim of stamping out invasions of alien species.

Jiang said the scale of the release work will continue to be expanded during the period of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25), in hopes of reaching 1 million annually before the period ends.

Statistics provided by the China Three Gorges Corp show that the company had released 21 million endangered fish — including the largemouth bronze gudgeon and 6 million Chinese sturgeons — into the Yangtze since it was founded some 30 years ago.

In addition, the company has relocated 1,390 plant species that made way for the dam's construction. Jiang said that the central authorities underscored greener development and harmonious coexistence between humanity and nature at the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China convened in mid-October in Beijing last year.

"That has given the company a new mission," he said.

Luo Jiayuan contributed to this story.