US federal lists Yangtze River fish as endangered

Overfishing and the construction of several dams in the Yangtze River Basin in China has depleted the numbers of the ancient sturgeon. (CN) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife approved the listing of the Yangtze sturgeon under the Endangered Species Act on Friday in an effort to stave off the accelerated decline of the ancient fish species also known as Dabry’s sturgeon. “Loss of individuals due to overharvesting on the Yangtze River is the main factor that contributed to the historical decline of the species,” Fish and Wildlife said in a document published to the Federal Register. “Despite conservation efforts, this species is still currently in decline, due primarily to the effects of dams and bycatch.” Dams in particular represent the more modern threat to the species. The Yangtze River is the longest in Asia, flowing 3,900 miles from the Tibetan Plateau in the west to the East China Sea near Shanghai in the east. Formerly a free-flowing river, in 1981 the Chinese completed the ...