Illegal fishermen kill rare giant fish in China

The following entry is on the rare Chinese Paddle Fish.

Paddlefish are not closely related to sharks, but they do share some common characteristics including a skeleton primarily composed of cartilage, and a deeply forked, abbreviate heterocercal tail fin (the top fin lobe is slightly larger than the lower fin lobe). Paddlefish are one of the oldest fish according to fossil records, pre-dating the dinosaurs. The North American paddlefish (Polyodon spathula) has only one other species as a member of the same family. The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius) is found in the Yangtze River and has a cone-shaped snout rather than the long, paddle-like snout (known as a rostrum) of the North American paddlefish. A decent journal entry on the chinese paddle fish and its genetic diversity, predicting populations may have an inability to adapt and that increased captive breeding programs be required. The breeding and environmental impact in China on this fishes environment has also been documented, the building of the Three Gorges Dam demonstrated a reduced breeding population due in part to reduced oxygen levels and higher toxic values in the environment. Some of the same characteritics that are pushing, or have not already pushed, the Chinese River Dolphin to the brink of extinction.

Illegal fishermen kill rare giant fish in China
Agence France-PresseLast updated 12:00nn (Mla time) 01/12/2007

BEIJING -- Illegal fishermen have killed a highly endangered freshwater fish in China 3.6 meters (12 feet) long and weighing 250 kilograms (550 pounds), state press reported Friday.

The Chinese paddlefish was the largest of its kind seen in six years, with very few sightings of the species in its native habitats of the Yangtze and Qiantang rivers recorded recently, Xinhua news agency said.

The species is dubbed the "giant panda of the rivers" due to its similarities with China's favorite animal in size and the fact that it is close to extinction in the wild, according to the report.

An employee at a nature reserve in Hubei province said two illegal boats caught the fish in the Yangtze River on Monday.
A team from the reserve tried to take the fish, suffering wounds from six hooks, back into deep water but it died on Wednesday, the employee, Ma Daoyun, said.

"The case is rare because the fishermen continued trying to pull the fish from the water even after villagers warned them that the species was under top state protection," said Xiong Yuanhui, another worker at the reserve.

"Most fishermen would report to the reserve if they accidentally caught rare fish," he said.