Busy waterways take their toll

Fisheries experts have called for ships traversing the Yangtze River to leave migration routes open for the Chinese sturgeon during the late October/early December spawning season.

In November, researchers discovered a dying sturgeon at a spawning site downstream from the Gezhouba Dam, near Yichang in Hubei province. The fish, a 3-meter-long female weighing about 175 kg, had broken bones in her head and spine, and her tail was bleeding, according to Wang Chengyou, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.

The body will be preserved and used to illustrate the dangers fish face in busy shipping lanes.