When it comes to the Three Gorges Dam, everyone is familiar with it. It is one of the largest hydraulic engineering projects in China. Many people may think that the main purpose of the Three Gorges Dam is power generation. In fact, besides power generation, the Three Gorges Dam also plays a major role in flood control, navigation, and water resource utilization. Now, the Three Gorges Dam has become a famous tourist attraction in the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River.

Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River
The Three Gorges Dam is a reinforced concrete gravity dam. It has a length of 2,335 meters, a height of 185 meters, and a normal water storage level of 175 meters. It controls an area of approximately 1 million square kilometers in the Yangtze River Basin and has a total storage capacity of 39.3 billion cubic meters. Construction of the Three Gorges Dam began in 1994 and the reservoir was first filled in June 2003. Now, after 20 years, one might wonder, how big are the fish inside?
In the Yangtze River water system, there are over 400 species of freshwater fish, accounting for 48% of China’s freshwater fish species. Among them, there are more than 170 species of fish that are unique to the Yangtze River. The fishermen on both sides of the Yangtze River have a saying: “A thousand catties of preserved fish, ten thousand catties of elephant fish, and when the yellow croakers are big, they don’t look good.” This sentence refers to three types of fish in the Yangtze River.

中华鲟 Chinese sturgeon
辣子 refers to the Chinese sturgeon, a unique fish species in our country. It is a large migratory fish that can grow to over 500 kilograms and live up to 40 years. It is a first-class protected animal in our country and is known as the “King of the Yangtze River Fish”. The Chinese sturgeon generally lives in the Yangtze River and near the sea, and belongs to the bottom-dwelling fish. In 2014, a fisherman in Hubei accidentally caught a 700-kilogram Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River. The sturgeon had multiple injuries on its body and was subsequently sent to the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute for treatment.

白鲟 Sturgeon
The term “万斤象Wanjinxiang” refers to the Chinese sturgeon, which is a unique species of fish in the Yangtze River and the largest freshwater fish in China. It is known as the “King of Chinese Freshwater Fish” and is classified as a first-class protected wild animal in the country. The Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River can grow up to 2 to 3 meters in length and weigh 200 to 300 kilograms. It mainly inhabits the main and tributary streams of the Yangtze River below Yibin. The longest recorded length is 7 meters. However, it is unfortunate that the Chinese sturgeon in the Yangtze River is already extinct. In December 2019, experts from the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences published a research paper stating that the Chinese sturgeon had already gone extinct between 2005 and 2010.

胭脂鱼 Red Snapper
黄排是指胭脂鱼,虽然黄排在长江众多鱼类中,它的体型并不算出众,但由于它身价较高,一直被当成长江里的名鱼,所以才有了和中华鲟、白鲟相连的顺口溜。据长江边的老渔民介绍,胭脂鱼还没成为国家二级保护动物之前,江里几十斤的很常见,有些个别大的差不多有一米长,真是大的不像样,后来随着胭脂鱼价格上升,人们大量捕捞,导致它的数量剧减。

The Three Gorges is home to hundreds of large fish.
In addition to the three large fish mentioned above, the Yangtze River is also home to many large fish species, such as the well-known four major Chinese carps and the Chinese paddlefish. These species can also grow to over a hundred pounds in weight. Recently, some netizens filmed hundreds of fish in the Three Gorges reservoir area. From the footage, it can be seen that these fish are all large fish weighing over a hundred pounds, with Chinese paddlefish and Chinese silver carp being the most common.
Now, the Yangtze River has implemented a ten-year fishing ban, and nearly 100,000 fishermen on both sides have put down their fishing tools. No one knows how many fish are in the Yangtze River reservoir area, but one thing is certain – schools of fish weighing hundreds of pounds are visible to the naked eye. Let’s think about the fish that live in the bottom of the river, such as the Chinese sturgeon and the silver carp, which we cannot see. These fish must be small in size.

Capture footage of fish schools in the Three Gorges Reservoir area.
The size of a fish depends on three factors. First, the species of the fish; different fish species have a direct relationship with their size. For example, it is difficult for a crucian carp to grow to a weight of ten catties, as the species itself determines its size. Second, the lifespan of the fish; a longer lifespan, combined with the species, will certainly allow the fish to grow very large. If the lifespan is only a few years or a dozen years, it is very difficult to grow to several tens or hundreds of catties. Third, the living environment; if the aquatic habitat has sufficient food and is not polluted, the fish will naturally grow quickly and large. However, if there is a scarcity of food and the water quality is polluted, it is also difficult for the fish to grow large.

Three Gorges Reservoir Fish Population
The Yangtze River originates from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and flows into the East China Sea east of Chongming Island in Shanghai. It passes through 11 provinces in China, with a total length of about 6,300 kilometers. It gathers 49 tributaries, including the Tuo River, Jialing River, Wu River, Han River, Yalong River, Min River, Chishui River, Gan River, Qing River, Xiang River, and Yuan River. The reason why the Three Gorges Reservoir area has so many large fish is not only due to the national fishing ban policy, but also inseparable from the Yangtze River’s unique ecosystem, which has nurtured many hundreds or thousands of kilograms of large fish.