Yangtze's knife fish pushed to the edge

(Ecns.cn) – The daoyu, or knife fish, is an increasingly rare freshwater species living in the lower and middle reaches of the Yangtze River that has long been coveted as a springtime delicacy. Yet despite efforts to curtail overfishing, soaring demand and polluted water conditions have now pushed the species to the brink of extinction, experts say.

Scientifically classified as coilia ecetenes, daoyu is one of the top three Yangtze River fish species, widely known for its delicious taste, high protein and rich nutritional content, which are believed to promote growth in children, boost wound healing and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Once taken for granted as a regional dish, the daoyu now suffers from soaring demand and insufficient supplies, with half a kilogram selling for up to 6,000 yuan (US$951). As a result, more fishermen are willing to take greater risks to catch the endangered knife fish as it swims upstream to spawn, even it means flouting seasonal fishing bans.

Soaring prices, hard fishing

Chen Xingfa, a 62-year-old fisherman in Jingjiang of east China's Jiangsu Province, said he could catch more than five kilograms of daoyu in a single net in 2000, yet now the best he can hope for is a few hundred grams, reports the Xinmin Weekly.

That scarcity is driving the price of daoyu to astonishing heights. On April 2, 2012, a fishing team from Zhangjiakou caught a large knife fish that weighed 325 grams in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, which later sold for 59,000 yuan (US$935).

Such extraordinary prices were once unimaginable. In the past, daoyu was typical fare for local diners, especially around Tomb Sweeping Day, yet in a single decade the price of the fish has increased by nearly a thousand-fold.

Such high-priced demand may be taking its toll on consumers, but the pressure is having a far more acute effect on the species itself.

At dawn on April 14, 2012, Chen Xingfa headed up the Yangtze with his wife to the Jiangdao Fishery south of the Jiangyin Bridge, where Chen has labored for more than ten years.

At 7 a.m., with the help of three boatmen, the couple rolled out three gillnets hundreds of meters long and dropped them about 30 meters to the river bottom.

Two hours later, when the gillnets were pulled up, Chen only found five of the long, thin, silver daoyu. Altogether, they weighed a meager 400 grams.

Shrinking stocks

The number of daoyu in the Yangtze River Delta drastically declined from an output of some 3,750 tons in 1973 to just 370 tons in 1983, and less than 100 tons in 2002, according to the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences.

Shi Weigang, an official with the academy's Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, said there are no updated statistics about the overall output of knife fish after 2002, but the number must be dropping sharply.

According to the Xinmin Weekly, statistics from the Fishery Station of the Jingjiang Commission of Agriculture show that the output of knife fish there was 123 tons in 1998, 217.6 tons in 2001 and only about 10 tons in 2011. Though the figures are based on estimations, they nevertheless clearly indicate a serious decline.

In addition to harmful methods such as the use of tight-mesh fishing nets, pollution is also among the major causes for the depletion of stocks. Polluted water has prevented the migration of fish to the upper reaches of the Yangtze and seriously undermined the chances for the fish to spawn, Shi said.

Seasonal ban

The severity of the situation has prompted local authorities to reduce the amount of licenses issued to daoyu fishermen, while those caught fishing without a license could face charges and have their equipment confiscated.

In China, fishing is usually banned in the upper reaches of the river every year. Currently, the ban runs from April 1 to June 30 on the Yangtze, and only licensed fisherman are allowed to catch daoyu during this period.

In Jingjiang, the permitted fishing period for regions east of the Jiangyin Bridge runs from March 1 to April 20, while the south is from March 5 to March 31 (and from April 15 to May 10), according to the Xinmin Weekly.

But a seasonal ban alone is far from enough to rescue the endangered species, said Shi Weigang.

In the 1980s, the distance knife fish swam against the current was considerable, but now they are not seen at all in the Yangtze's lower reaches in Jiangxi and Anhui provinces, not to mention Hunan and Hubei, which is a warning of a possible die out, he added.

The government should enhance monitoring and supervision during the knife fish's spawning season, and put more efforts into preventing pollution and improving conditions alongside the Yangtze, Shi said.