In Depth: The Struggle to Save the Chinese Fish That Swam With Dinosaurs
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In November 2025, the city of Yichang in central China’s Hubei province was awash with autumnal colors, red and yellow leaves blanketed the streets as campers dotted the hillsides. But standing by the banks of the Yangtze River, Wei Qiwei had no interest in the scenery. The water temperature was still 21 degrees Celsius — too high. He frowned, unable to hide his agitation.
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- The Yangtze River’s wild Chinese sturgeon population collapsed from over 10,000 in the 1970s to just 10 by 2024, with no natural spawning detected since 2017, due to dams, temperature rise, and habitat loss.
- Despite releasing nearly 10 million hatchery fish since the 1980s, none have returned to spawn in the wild; however, a 2025 experiment documented successful spawning by lab-bred sturgeon in modified river conditions.
- Experts warn of imminent wild extinction by 2026, but recent breakthroughs and targeted conservation efforts offer hope for revival by 2036 if habitat and temperature issues are addressed.
1. In November 2025, Yichang in Hubei province exhibited beautiful autumnal scenery, but for Wei Qiwei—a veteran sturgeon researcher—the focus was on Yangtze River water temperatures, which remained above the threshold essential for Chinese sturgeon spawning (21°C versus the necessary maximum of 20.2°C). This warming, attributed to human activity and dam reservoirs, forced research teams to delay crucial spawning surveys, highlighting an emerging obstacle to the survival of the species. [para. 1][para. 2]
2. Wei Qiwei, dubbed the “Father of the Chinese Sturgeon,” has devoted his career to protecting the ancient fish, whose existence traces back 150 to 200 million years. In contrast to the now-extinct Chinese paddlefish, the sturgeon was prioritized for conservation early on, but despite artificial breeding programs, its wild population has nosedived. [para. 3][para. 4]
3. The sturgeon’s life cycle is fraught with peril, requiring migration from their birth sites in the upper Yangtze to the sea and back to spawn. However, dam construction, shipping, and pollution have decimated their migration routes and spawning habitats, turning their journey from a common event (10,000 fish annually in the 1970s) to a near impossibility—by 2024, only about 10 made the journey, and no natural spawning has been observed since 2017. [para. 5][para. 6]
4. The crisis originated with the Gezhouba Dam, built in the late 20th century, which catalyzed heated debates among scientists about conservation methods. Ultimately, China chose to rely on hatcheries over fish ladders, shaping future conservation policy. Early artificial breeding met with high mortality, but improvements in the late 20th century increased survival rates of juvenile fish. [para. 7][para. 8][para. 9][para. 10][para. 11][para. 12]
5. From the 1980s onward, some 10 million artificially bred sturgeon were released, but none have been confirmed to return and spawn in the wild. Initial failures are attributed to releasing fry that were too small to survive. Only post-2021 have releases included larger, mature “second-generation” lab-bred sturgeon, whose return would take at least another decade to evaluate. This highlights the challenging “million release, zero return” paradox. [para. 13][para. 14][para. 15]
6. Meanwhile, the wild environment for the sturgeon rapidly deteriorated. The Gezhouba Dam reduced accessible spawning grounds to under 1% of their historic size, then subsequent engineering—such as the Three Gorges Dam and new levees—reduced spawning habitats further to just 0.1 square kilometers. Warmer downstream temperatures created by massive reservoirs further hindered reproduction by disrupting the sturgeon’s natural biological clock. [para. 16][para. 17][para. 18][para. 19][para. 20][para. 21]
7. By 2013, after new dams began holding water, the natural reproduction of sturgeon ceased entirely, with no eggs or juvenile fish found in the wild in recent years. Experts note that the sturgeon’s highly evolved timing for spawning is undermined by environmental heat, leading to abandonment of reproduction. [para. 22][para. 23]
8. Despite the dire situation, researchers have persisted. In 2025, a breakthrough was achieved by reconstructing spawning grounds at Yanzhiba and manipulating river conditions—including cooling water with large amounts of ice and adjusting fish rearing temperatures—to successfully induce natural spawning from second-generation lab-reared sturgeon. This milestone offers hope that artificial populations might yet recover some natural reproductive capacity. [para. 24][para. 25][para. 26][para. 27][para. 28][para. 29][para. 30]
9. For the wild population, the prognosis remains grim—no evidence of new spawning sites has been found since 2014, and extinction in the wild could occur as soon as 2026 according to expert models. Scientists attribute rescue failures to missed opportunities for adaptive dam management, particularly not controlling water temperatures in time. [para. 31][para. 32][para. 33][para. 34]
10. Nevertheless, recent successes in advanced breeding and semi-wild experiments, along with new governmental action plans, have slightly revived optimism. Wei Qiwei believes that if proper habitat restoration and water-temperature management are achieved, natural spawning could return to certain Yangtze sections by 2036. Wei remains committed to advocacy and education, wanting the next generation to understand and value the Chinese sturgeon’s legacy. [para. 35][para. 36][para. 37][para. 38][para. 39]
- China Three Gorges Corp.
- The China Three Gorges Corp.'s research center, led by chief expert Chang Jianbo, conducted a desperate experiment to save the critically endangered Chinese sturgeon. In December 2025, Chang's team reconstructed a spawning ground at Yanzhiba, a shallow shoal downstream from Gezhouba, and successfully induced natural spawning in lab-reared sturgeon. They achieved this by modifying the riverbed and dumping massive quantities of ice to combat unnaturally high water temperatures caused by dams.
- 1981：
- Gezhouba Dam blocks the river, cutting off sturgeons from historic spawning grounds in the Jinsha River.
- Spring, Autumn, Winter of 1982：
- Official studies discover juvenile Chinese sturgeon downstream of the Gezhouba Dam, proving natural reproduction still possible after the dam's closure.
- December 1982：
- Central authorities decide against constructing a fish passage at the Gezhouba Dam, opting for hatcheries instead.
- Late 1980s through 2001：
- Millions of released artificially-bred sturgeon fry are too small to survive.
- 1997-2003：
- Nurseries breed first-generation sturgeon later used for artificial propagation.
- 1998：
- Researchers produce 80,000 juvenile sturgeons via improved artificial propagation.
- 2003：
- Breeding window shrinks dramatically after Three Gorges Project is completed.
- 2004：
- Gezhouba downstream river training project builds a dividing levee through the remaining spawning ground, altering flow and riverbed.
- 2007：
- Effective spawning area for sturgeon shrinks to 0.1 square kilometers.
- 2012：
- Xiangjiaba and Xiluodu dams begin impounding water, effectively closing the natural spawning window.
- 2013：
- For the first time in recorded history, the Chinese sturgeon stops reproducing naturally in the Yangtze.
- 2014：
- Scientists search 1,000km of the Yangtze for new spawning grounds but find nothing.
- 2015：
- Juvenile sturgeons detected, likely from a minor spawning event.
- Since 2016：
- No wild sturgeon eggs found in the Yangtze.
- By 2017：
- No natural spawning detected in the Yangtze since this year.
- 2021：
- Second-generation lab-bred sturgeon reach sexual maturity in large numbers, prompting major releases of larger fish.
- 2022：
- Chinese paddlefish declared extinct by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- By 2024：
- Annual upriver migration of sturgeon reduced to only 10 individuals.
- 2024：
- Chang Jianbo’s team uses massive quantities of ice to lower water temperature in an experimental channel.
- October 29, 2025：
- Staff select first-generation nursery-bred sturgeon for artificial insemination at the Chinese Sturgeon Conservation Center in Jingzhou.
- October 30, 2025：
- Female sturgeon No. 3754 yields about 200,000 eggs at Jingzhou Conservation Center.
- November 5, 2025：
- Wei Qiwei attends sturgeon release event at Lighthouse Square in Yichang.
- Between December 1 and December 5, 2025：
- Three batches of natural spawning by lab-reared sturgeon documented in Yanzhiba experimental enclosure; fertilized eggs hatch into healthy fry.
- By 2026：
- According to model projections, wild Chinese sturgeon may go extinct.
- 2026：
- Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs launches an action plan; urgency among researchers increases due to ongoing extinction risk.
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