Chinese sturgeon with sonar mark arrives at estuary of the Yangtze River

A Chinese sturgeon with sonar mark has arrived at the estuary of the Yangtze River on May 6, about two weeks after 10,000 Chinese sturgeons were released by the China Three Gorges Corp.(CTG) last month.

The eight-year-old Chinese sturgeon, which was the first to arrive at the estuary, was detected by Jiangyin Monitoring Station, located about 1,800 kilometers away from the release point in Yichang of Hubei province, according to CTG.

Experts at the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute owned by CTG said that the move signals that the Chinese sturgeons released last month have gradually reached the estuary.

“This year we have further improved the monitoring network to track the released Chinese sturgeons, which can help us evaluate the outcome of the release and learn more about the maritime life history of Chinese sturgeons in the second half of the year,” said Yang Wei, a researcher at the institute.

The Institute has to date carried out a total of 62 releases for Chinese sturgeons. The institute has identified two sections of the Yangtze River for close monitoring: Yichang section where seven segments are closely watched and Jiangyin section where seven segments are monitored by 18 online monitoring devices.

The monitoring data shows that the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute has largely identified the migration pattern of the Chinese sturgeons, a significant achievement that could help further improve the protection of Chinese sturgeons.