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Tropical and Sub-Tropical Reservoir Limnology in China pp 259–276Cite as

Status of Reservoir Fisheries in China and Their Effects on Environment

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Part of the book series: Monographiae Biologicae ((MOBI,volume 91))

Abstract

China has abundant reservoir resources and reservoir fisheries play an unprecedented role in inland fisheries in the country. There are more than 86,000 reservoirs in China and the total storage capacity is over 4,130 billion cubic meters with a total surface area of over 2.3 million hectare. The distribution of reservoirs is quite uneven, Most reservoirs locate in the southern and middle regions of China. In the past 60 years or so, China has made tremendous progress in reservoir fisheries. The total yield of reservoir fisheries increased from 54,000 ton in 1949 to more than 2.68 million tons in 2009. The unit yield was less than 250 kg ha−1 in 1949 and increased to 1,555 kg ha−1 in 2009. Overall management and development strategies related to reservoir fisheries have been highly innovated in recent decades. First, multiple fisheries patterns were innovated in reservoirs for various types and purposes, including capture-based fisheries, extensive stocking, semi-intensive culture, intensive culture, polyculture, and integrated culture. Second, Chinese initiated the “joint fishing methods” and “barrier facilities for preventing fish escaping” to guarantee the high rate of recapture in reservoirs. Third, the increasing introduction and stocking of silver carp Hypophthalmichthys molitrix and bighead carp Aristichthys nobilis in most reservoirs in China is not only for enhancement of fish production, but more importantly, for the prevention or elimination of algal blooms as a biomanipulation management. Numerous reservoirs benefit enormously from filter-feeding fish stocking aimed at prevention of water quality deterioration. Other biomanipulation methods for water quality improvement are also applied in reservoirs, such as bivalve introductions and water plant planting. Fourth, because environmental effects of cage culture on reservoir environments are receiving more attention in the country, a dynamic carrying capacity model for cage culture in reservoirs has been developed to limit the scale and intensity of cage culture according to the requirement of water quality and function of reservoirs. Intensive fisheries activities in reservoirs definitely cause pollution and nutrient loadings to reservoir ecosystems. However, there is still ample scope for the development of more sustainable and environment-friendly strategies in reservoir fisheries in China.

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Acknowledgments

The research was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 30771642, 30830025, and 30972257).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430072, P.R. China

    Zhiqiang Guo, Zhongjie Li, Jiashou Liu, Fengyue Zhu & H. A. C. C. Perera

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  1. Zhiqiang Guo
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  2. Zhongjie Li
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  3. Jiashou Liu
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  4. Fengyue Zhu
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  5. H. A. C. C. Perera
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Correspondence to Jiashou Liu .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Jinan University, Guangzhou, China, People's Republic

    Bo-Ping Han

  2. Jinan University, Huangpu Road West 601, Guanghzhou, 510632, China, People's Republic

    Zhengwen Liu

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Guo, Z., Li, Z., Liu, J., Zhu, F., Perera, H.A.C.C. (2012). Status of Reservoir Fisheries in China and Their Effects on Environment. In: Han, BP., Liu, Z. (eds) Tropical and Sub-Tropical Reservoir Limnology in China. Monographiae Biologicae, vol 91. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-2007-7_15

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