Wild world

Freshwater fish in China

China is possibly home to 709 freshwater fish species and 58 subspecies, with another 64 species migrating between sea and inland water

Last refuge of rare fish threatened by Yangtze dam plans

The last refuge for many of China’s rarest and most economically important wild fish has mere days to secure public support before it is trimmed, dammed and ruinously diminished, conservationists warned today.

The alarm was raised after the authorities in Chongqing quietly moved to redraw the boundaries of a crucial freshwater reserve on the Yangtze, which was supposed to have been the bottom line for nature conservation in one of the world’s most important centres of biodiversity.

Fishing industry in China – Wikipedia

Inland China has 176,000 square km of inland waters (1.8 percent of the inland area). Eighty thousand reservoirs contribute another 20,000 km².

China reputably has 709 freshwater fish species and 58 subspecies, with another 64 species migrating between sea and inland waters.

Carp are a commercially important species, particularly silver carp, bighead carp, black carp, grass carp, common carp and crucian carp. Other commercially important species are bream, reeves shad, eel, cat fish, rainbow trout, salmon, whitebait, mullet, mandarin fish, perch, sturgeon, murrel and pangolin.

Inland Aquaculture in China (FAO)

China has a long history of freshwater culture. Inland aquaculture occupies 5.664 million hectare, up 464 000 ha since 1999, with ponds accounting for 2.43 million hectare (42.9% of total inland culture area), reservoirs of 1.69 million hectare (29.8%), lake culture in 940 000 ha (16.6%), river culture of 380 000 ha (6.7%), and other culture areas using 227 000 ha (4%). In addition, there were 1.63 million hectare of paddy-cum-fish field areas not included in the total cultured area.

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