Can sturgeon be saved? It depends.

Researchers dedicated to protecting the endangered Chinese sturgeon, one of the oldest of fish species - often referred to as the "panda of the water" - have benefited from modern technology in restoring the sturgeon's population in recent decades.

The Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute, located in Yichang, a city in Hubei province beside the Yangtze River, has reintroduced more than 5 million Chinese sturgeon of various sizes into the waterway since 1984, according to Li Zhiyuan, the institute's deputy director.

Historically, the Chinese sturgeon, a species 140 million years old, lived wild in the Yellow, Yangtze and Pearl rivers. Now it's endangered - found only in the Yangtze.