Why are there so many giant fish flooding the Three Gorges Dam but no one dares to catch them?

How do experts explain this problem?

The Yangtze River and the Yellow River are the two most important freshwater rivers in China. These two rivers not only solve the major agricultural irrigation problem for the people of this country, but also promote the maximum development of freshwater aquaculture.

In mid-2023, a video frequently shared by many netizens on social media showed a large number of fish appearing at the Three Gorges Dam - the world's largest hydroelectric dam in Hubei, China, many of which weighed more than 100kg.

Faced with such a spectacular sight of schools of fish, absolutely no one dared to catch them. Why?

China's 10-year plan

Fish has long been an indispensable dish on the dining table of every family in China. In order to catch large quantities of fish faster, some fishermen have used some extreme fishing methods such as electrofishing on the Yangtze River.

They completely ignore the ecological balance and continue to demand from nature just for temporary benefits, which has also caused the number of fish in the waters around the Three Gorges Dam to decrease sharply, posing a great threat to the stable ecological balance here.

For immediate purposes, many fishermen have fished indiscriminately, causing the number of fish in the Yangtze River to decrease sharply.

In the world, every living thing has a certain significance in the ecological chain. The "break" of the ecological chain will affect the existence of other living things and in severe cases can cause a chain reaction in the ecosystem here, causing negative impacts on water quality and species richness in the Three Gorges Dam in particular and the Yangtze River in general.

To address that problem, China has implemented a "10-year fishing ban plan" on the Yangtze River since 2020 .

After the fishing ban is implemented, all aquatic production activities, including fishing, breeding and trading, will be banned in the natural waters of the Yangtze River basin.

This plan is strictly implemented to protect the Yangtze River ecosystem , maintain biodiversity and promote sustainable development of the region. Anyone who violates it will be severely punished.

Why 10 years?

According to scientists, 10 years is a suitable period of time for some endangered fish species to have a chance to grow, reproduce and develop. And this period of time can also allow some normal fish stocks to reproduce twice as much, increasing the number of fish for the dam.

The Yangtze River is the "living barn" of many fish species.

As a result, after several years of implementing this plan, the fish in the Three Gorges Dam have increased in both quantity and species diversity. The image of countless fish species swimming busily under the dam has delighted many people.

When the water environment in the Three Gorges Dam becomes favorable, many fish species have the opportunity to increase in size and weight. Among them is a species of carp with a giant size, once caught weighing more than 100kg.

As the third longest river in the world, the Yangtze River is home to many strange creatures. In terms of fish alone, it is home to many different species.

The main rare fish species in the Yangtze River include Chinese sturgeon, white sturgeon, Songjiang perch, paddlefish, etc.

Chinese sturgeon is a large fish in the Yangtze River and one of the oldest living creatures in the world, with high scientific and ecological research value.

These large and crowded schools of fish are the hope for the future of China's rivers, the result of a 10-year fishing ban and the key to maintaining the ecological environment of the Yangtze River.

Several years after China implemented a 10-year fishing ban, fish stocks in the Yangtze River have grown, especially in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges.