(Photo/Ding Weiwen)

The Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in Jiangsu Province issued a report on aquatic biological resources and environmental status of fishing waters on September 27, the first of its kind in the Yangtze River basin.

Regular surveys in 2021 found 72 fish species, 15 more than in 2020, with an average weight of 140.2 gram per fish, up 297.17%. The average weight of coilia ectenes, the region's representative fish species, increased by 8.38% to 77.6 gram per fish.

The province's expert committee for aquatic life monitoring made studies in key waters of the river and the estuary. This initiative involved 61 monitoring stations in 2021, among which 40 are located in the state or province-level aquatic protected areas.

Zhang Chaohui, researcher at the Jiangsu Fisheries Technology Promotion Centre, said the density of fish resources in the river's Jiangsu section has increased significantly and the biodiversity indicators improved too, such as the growing number of Yangtze finless porpoise pods and coilia ectenes.

Xu Pao, member of the expert committee, said the increase in Yangtze finless porpoise population indicates the river's better environment after the 10-year fishing ban became effective.

Water is becoming clearer and the environment in the Jiangsu section of the Yangtze River is generally making progress, said Xu.