1,200 Chinese sturgeons released into Yangtze River

Yichang (CNS) -- More than 1,200 artificially-bred Chinese sturgeons were released into the Yangtze River on Sunday morning, according to local authorities.

The activity was co-sponsored by the municipal government of Yichang City in Hubei Province and the China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC).

Of the fish, 1,000 were second-generation sturgeons and over 200 were first generation, said Cao Guangjing, chairman of the CTGC.

The first-generation fish were artificially bred from the fertilized eggs of wild ones, and the second generation was bred based on the first generations, said Yang Yuanjin, deputy director of the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute (CSRI) under the CTGC.

The fish were trained for a month before being released to help them smoothly adapt to their new home; they are qualified to survive in the wilderness, added Cao.

To date, the CTGC has released more than 5 million Chinese sturgeons, said Cao, adding that in 2012 alone, the corporation freed 12 million rare fish of all kinds into the Yangtze and Jinsha rivers.

Believed to have lived at the same time as the dinosaurs, the Chinese sturgeon, or "acipenser sinensis," has existed for more than 140 million years. The fish is listed as a wild creature under top state protection.