44 times! What does the transformation of Huangyu from endangered to vulnerable reflect? China | Ecology | Huangyu

Qinghai Lake is an important ecological barrier on the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and Huangyu is a unique species in Qinghai Lake. In the 2004 Red List of Chinese Species, the yellow croaker was listed as an endangered species. Every year around the Dragon Boat Festival, Huangyu fish in Qinghai Lake migrate towards the various rivers that converge into Qinghai Lake, upstream, spawning and reproducing, forming an ecological wonder of "half river water, half river fish".

As of last year, testing data showed that the reserve of Huangyu fish in Qinghai Lake reached 114100 tons, 44 times that of ten years ago. The water area of Qinghai Lake has reached its largest value in ten years, and the ecological system pattern and environmental conditions in the basin have also improved. In 2020, Huangyu was listed as a vulnerable species in the Red List of Biodiversity in China. What does the transformation of Huangyu from "endangered" to "vulnerable" indicate? What changes do the ecological protection of Qinghai Lake reflect in China's ecological governance concept? Experts will interpret later. Let's first take a look at today's Huangyu migration route.

The migration path of Huangyu in a small river

Although Zhengkouhu River is a very small river, there are many yellow croakers migrating in the river. This year, the migration path of this small river has undergone significant changes.

CCTV reporter Jiang Tianyue: Now is the most comfortable season in Qinghai Lake, with abundant grass, herds of cattle and sheep, and various migratory birds spending summer here. Below the surface of the water behind me, there lives the unique and rare species of yellow croaker in Qinghai Lake. They will swim upstream along the rivers leading to Qinghai Lake to lay eggs and reproduce.

Jin Guanghong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Heimahe Town, Gonghe County, Qinghai Province: The migration began around June and reached its peak in July and August. At that time, the entire riverbed was covered with Huangyu, which was very spectacular.

Jin Guanghong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Heimahe Town, Gonghe County, Qinghai Province: Because the color of Huangyu is relatively close to the riverbed, if you don't look carefully, you won't be able to see it clearly.

Huangyu has a good protective color and can avoid some natural enemies on the water surface, but if they run aground in the river, they may face life-threatening situations. Due to the small amount of water in this river and the uneven terrain of the river, migratory yellow croakers often run aground.

Jin Guanghong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Heimahe Town, Gonghe County, Qinghai Province: We have reinforced both sides of the river and leveled the riverbed. After leveling, the migration of Huangyu will be more smooth.

In addition to leveling the riverbed, the local area has also built some small ditches in the river to ensure smooth water flow and prevent Huangyu from running aground when the water volume is not high.

Jin Guanghong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Heimahe Town, Gonghe County, Qinghai Province: Look at this tributary. Although it is relatively shallow, its water flow continues to flow downwards, providing sufficient oxygen for Huangyu. Huangyu will actively find the mainstream and continue to migrate.

CCTV reporter Jiang Tianyue: The migration of Huangyu is not always so smooth, and sometimes uneven riverbed and interrupted river channels can have an impact on them.

Jin Guanghong, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Heimahe Town, Gonghe County, Qinghai Province: When the water supply is cut off, our people will spontaneously organize some volunteer teams to carry out rescue work, carrying their own buckets and basins, and transporting stranded fish to safe rivers.

More and more yellow croakers are able to overcome numerous dangers and complete this journey of life. This cannot be separated from people's increasingly profound understanding of the protection of Huangyu. Every care, every protection, also makes this beautiful ecological painting on Qinghai Lake more vivid and colorful, with blue sky, green grass, and lush water and fish.

Huangyu: a core species in the symbiotic ecosystem of Qinghai Lake

Huangyu is a core species in the symbiotic ecosystem of grass river lake fish bird in Qinghai Lake. If there were no Huangyu, the water quality of Qinghai Lake and the migration and reproduction of birds would be seriously affected and damaged.

What kind of fish is Huangyu? Huangyu is named after the Huangshui River that flows through the territory of Qinghai Province. In fact, its real name is Qinghai Lake Naked Carp. Naked carp are carp without scales. Huangyu usually lives in Qinghai Lake, with an average depth of 18 meters. The high salt and alkali content in the water of Qinghai Lake inhibits the development of Huangyu's gonads. From May to August each year, mature Huangyu needs to swim to the freshwater of rivers such as Buha River, Quanji River, and Shaliu River that converge into Qinghai Lake to lay eggs, which forms a major wonder of Qinghai Lake - Huangyu migration.

Living environment of Huangyu photographed by 8K underwater robot

What is the underwater environment in which Huangyu usually lives, and how do they play underwater during their migration? The CCTV reporting team used an 8K underwater robot to capture the mysterious underwater world of Qinghai Lake, and let's take a look together.

In the estuarine area near the lake, we found a gathering school of yellow croaker fish, which was also the first time we saw a school of fish after searching underwater for a day. The water here is relatively turbid compared to the center of the lake. When we carefully observe the fish schools, we can see that these fish are yellow, thin, and long, which should be considered as the thin ones among the fish. Their whole body is almost naked without scales, and there are irregular brown patches on both sides of their bodies. The fish here have a lot of courage. When our underwater robots come here, they are not afraid at all, very naughty, still in groups of three or five, chasing and playing. Now is the breeding season for yellow croakers, and these yellow croakers that gather in the estuarine area will flock upstream, spawn upstream, and then flow downstream before returning to Qinghai Lake.

After years of protection, Huangyu has been downgraded from an endangered species to a vulnerable one

In the late 1950s, the abundance of yellow croaker in Qinghai Lake reached 320000 tons. However, due to overfishing and environmental degradation, by 2002, the abundance of yellow croaker was less than 2600 tons. In the 2004 Red List of Chinese Species, the yellow croaker was listed as an endangered species. Since 1982, Qinghai Province has implemented six rounds of lake closures for fish farming, especially since January 2001, with three consecutive rounds of "fishing bans" for yellow carp, allowing small fish to fully rest and recuperate. In order to ensure the smooth spawning of wild yellow croakers, some dams that hinder their migration have been demolished in the surrounding areas of Qinghai Lake, and they have been transformed into fish paths suitable for their migration. The local area also adopts the method of artificial breeding and releasing, and releases a large number of fish fry to Qinghai Lake every year. According to monitoring data in 2022, the reserve of Huangyu reached 114100 tons, which is 44 times higher than the initial protection period. After years of protection, the Red List of Biodiversity in China listed the yellow croaker as a vulnerable species in 2020.

44 times! What does the transformation of Huangyu from endangered to vulnerable reflect?

What does it mean that the number of Huangyu fish in Qinghai Lake has increased 44 times over the past decade, decreasing from an "endangered species" to a "vulnerable species"? Let's listen to Professor Hao Dong's interpretation from the Central Party School.

Professor Hao Dong from the Central Party School: The systematic governance and green development of Qinghai Lake have effectively solved the problem of whether ecological environment protection and economic and social development are "fishing for all" or "envy fish from afar". On the basis of comprehensive watershed management, with ecological protection as the core and the goal of creating a national park, the ecological security barrier of Qinghai Lake has been further strengthened. At the same time, relying on the ecological environment of Qinghai Lake and using an ecological oriented development model as the starting point, we have promoted the transformation of ecological advantages into development momentum, achieving an organic unity of environmental beauty, industrial prosperity, and people's prosperity.

The water area of Qinghai Lake has reached its largest value in ten years

Qinghai Lake is the largest inland saline lake in China and an important water body for maintaining ecological security in the northeast of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. In recent years, the water area of Qinghai Lake has continued to increase. As of September 2022, satellite remote sensing monitoring of the water area of Qinghai Lake has reached 4557.95 square kilometers, an increase of 187.26 square kilometers from 2012. The average water level has risen by more than 3 meters, and the water area has reached its maximum value since 2012.

After the increase in the water area of Qinghai Lake, the previously exposed sandy land in the sand island area of Qinghai Lake was submerged by the lake water, forming a large wetland, providing an excellent breeding and habitat for various waterfowl such as black necked cranes, swans, and spotted geese.

So, Qinghai Lake not only nourishes Huangyu, but also serves as a paradise for birds. According to statistics from the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, the total number of waterbirds in Qinghai Lake for the year 2022 was approximately 606000. Among these birds, the top four in terms of quantity are the spotted goose, cormorant, brown headed gull, and fish gull. In recent years, with the continuous rise of water level in Qinghai Lake, the breeding grounds of many waterbirds have changed, among which the breeding of fish gulls has experienced the greatest change.

CCTV reporter Ma Yahui: I am located on the south bank of Qinghai Lake, and now our ship has started to set sail gradually towards the lake surface. It is now 8:30 in the morning, and we can see that the weather is very clear today, with good visibility. We can see the blue lake water and the distant blue mountains. Our purpose for this voyage is to search for fish and gulls.

The fish gull is one of the four summer migratory birds in Qinghai Lake. Its nest was mainly distributed on Bird Island before 1978, and gradually shifted to the sandy area at the northwest corner of Cormorant Island. It began to change again after 1985, mainly distributed in Haixin Mountain and Sankuaishi. Among them, the fish gull population on Sankuaishi was the largest, with a maximum of over 17000 at times. In recent years, as the water level of Qinghai Lake gradually rises, the number of places on the three stones where fish and gulls can build nests has significantly decreased.

CCTV reporter Ma Yahui: Sankuaishi is the core area of Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve. This used to be the main breeding ground for fish and gulls. Now we can see a few scattered black birds, which should be cormorants flying, and white ones, which should be fish gulls perching on three rocks.

The reporter learned from the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Management Bureau that in 2008, the area of the three stones was 0.059 square kilometers. Last year, remote sensing satellites measured that the area of the three stones was only 0.015 square kilometers. Nearly four fifths of the fish and gulls were submerged in the breeding grounds of the three stones. Currently, there are only over 2300 fish gulls residing on three rocks. In 2016, there were over 8000 fish gulls living here. So, where did other fish and gulls migrate to? According to staff from the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Management Bureau, they have observed that some fish and gulls have migrated to the "Shajian" area near Haixipi Island. So we continued sailing north for about 20 kilometers and arrived at the "Shajian" area near Haixipi Island. In order not to disturb the waterfowl, we used drones to shoot from a distance. Through the drone screen, we can see several white birds flying at low altitude. At the beach further away, there are some small white dots. The accompanying staff of the protected area said that these white birds are the fish gulls and their chicks. This time is the hunting time for fish gulls, and some large fish gulls may have gone out to catch fish. So besides here, are there any other breeding grounds for fish and gulls?

Sun Jianqing, Director of the Natural Conservation Department of the Qinghai Lake National Nature Reserve Management Bureau: In recent years, with the rise of the water level in Qinghai Lake, the breeding grounds of fish and gulls have also changed. Through our investigation, the fish gulls have moved from the traditional three stones to the sand tip of Haixipi Island. Recently, we have found that a very small portion has moved to the sand island. This indicates that the adaptability of fish gulls to changes in the ecological environment of Qinghai Lake is relatively strong. Through our investigation in recent years, the number of fish and gulls has steadily increased, which also indicates that the rise in water level in Qinghai Lake has little impact on the number of fish and gulls.

Exploring the Antelope Town and Protecting the Proctor's Antelope

Let's take a closer look at another unique animal in Qinghai Lake - the Proctology antelope. The Przewalski antelope is one of the most endangered wild animals in the world, only distributed in the surrounding areas of Qinghai Lake. When the population was at its lowest, there were only over 300. After years of protection, the population has now increased to over 3000. The largest population of Proctor's antelope is distributed in Hargai Town, Gangcha County, with at least 1800 individuals.

What measures have been taken locally to protect the Proctology antelope? Let's take a look at the report sent back by CCTV reporter Jin Zhu from Lingyang Town, Hargai Town, Gangcha County.

CCTV reporter Jin Zhu: My current location is at the watchtower in Lingyang Town, which is also a frequent area for the Puji antelope. We have set up an 8K telephoto camera here to search and see if we can capture the Puji antelope.

CCTV reporter Jin Zhu: This season, the Proctor's gazelle is about to enter its lambing period. The male Proctor's gazelle needs to be separated from the female, and most female Proctor's gazelles have already gone to their large delivery room. The belly of this Proctor's antelope is clearly bulging, carrying a baby inside. Where will the common Puji antelope go? They have all gone to the grassland near Qinghai Lake. The male Przewalski antelope has frequent horns, which is also the biggest difference from the female Przewalski antelope.

CCTV reporter Jin Zhu: The Pu Shi antelope in the picture is an abandoned little Pu Shi antelope. It was injured and lost to the team. Fortunately, it was discovered by the farmer Sonan and treated by his brothers. Since 2016, the two brothers have rescued more than 50 injured or abandoned Przewalski antelopes. It was not until they grew up that Sonan asked the Brotherhood to release them to nature.

CCTV reporter Jin Zhu: As far as we know, there is still a lot of civilian assistance by the Qinghai Lake, and more and more people are realizing the importance of protecting wildlife and maintaining the ecological environment. I believe that as protection measures become more scientific, the population of the Proctor antelope will continue to grow.

Over the past five years of restoration and management, the ecology of Qinghai Lake has continued to improve

In order to better protect the ecological environment of the core area of Qinghai Lake, the local area closed down scenic spots such as Sandao and Bird Island in 2017, stopped all tourism operations, and implemented an ecological restoration and management model mainly based on natural restoration and supplemented by human intervention. In recent years, with the implementation of ecological protection and restoration projects such as returning farmland to forests, returning grazing land to grasslands, and preventing and controlling desertification in the surrounding areas of Qinghai Lake, the local ecological environment has continued to improve. The average vegetation coverage in the Qinghai Lake Basin reached 60.7%, with a total of 232 bird species recorded throughout the year, totaling approximately 571000 individuals.

How does the ecological protection of Qinghai Lake reflect the changes in China's ecological governance concept? Let's listen to Professor Hao Dong's interpretation from the Central Party School.

Professor Hao Dong from the Central Party School: The ecological protection of Qinghai Lake reflects our adherence to systematic thinking in the new era, coordinating the management of mountains, rivers, forests, fields, lakes, grasslands, and sands, and promoting new changes in ecological environment protection work with the strictest system and the strictest rule of law. On the one hand, we coordinate the ecological protection of the system within the watershed, coordinate the functions and positioning of various functional departments, to promote the systematic transformation of Qinghai Lake. On the other hand, we have introduced a series of policies to truly implement ecological protection policies, establish accountability mechanisms, and promote the true role of policies in improving governance efficiency.