Fishing banned on the Yangtze

Today—thanks to this short letter in Science—I discovered that the Chinese have instituted a 10-year ban on all commercial fishing in the Yangtze and its tributaries. This follows the likely extinction of various aquatic species, including the Yangtze river dolphin and, most recently, the Chinese paddlefish. This Youtube video by the South China Morning Post has some footage of one of these monsters being brought aboard a fishing vessel.

The ban started in January this year. It’s a landmark piece of environmental legislation, but it appears to be have been completely overlooked by mainstream western media outlets.

Nice primer video on the troubles of mega freshwater fish here (scroll to the bottom).