From July 30 to August 18, a joint investigation team formed by the Freshwater Fisheries Research Center, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Przewalski’s Naked Carp Rescue Center successfully completed the first fishery resources and environment survey of Yellow River “four lakes” (Zhaling Lake and Eling Lake in Qinghai Province, Wuliangsu Lake in Inner Mongolia, Dongping Lake in Shandong Province). The Dept. of Aquatic Biological Resources of FFRC took the lead in carrying out the specific survey.

Eling Lake and Zhaling Lake, as the two largest plateau freshwater lakes at the source of the Yellow River, are both above 4,000 meters in altitude. The investigation team of the upper reaches of river overcame the problems of altitude sickness, strong ultraviolet rays, bad weather, local folk customs and lack of boat equipment, conducted manual operations such as wading through water and setting nets, and successfully completed the investigation of the two lakes.

The investigation team of the upper reaches of river

The investigation team of the middle and lower reaches of river

From Shandong in the east to Inner Mongolia in the west, the distance between Dongping Lake and Wuliangsu Lake is nearly 1,300 kilometers. In order to obtain more accurate monitoring data for the same period, the investigation team of the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River overcame the problems of perishable fish samples and easy fatigue brought by the sweltering heat. The investigation team traveled day and night to shorten the time on the way to ensure a compact survey time in both places and successfully completed the monitoring work of Dongping Lake and Wuliangsu Lake.

Investigation in Eling Lake and Zhaling Lake

This survey is the first time for FFRC to carry out a large-scale fishery resource survey in the Yellow River Basin. Through this on-site investigation, the investigation team obtained the first-hand information on the “Four Lakes” of the Yellow River, and preliminarily analyzed the characteristics of fishery resources in different geographical locations in the upper, middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River Basin, which enriched the basic data for the evaluation of aquatic resources and environmental of the “Four Lakes” in the Yellow River. This will provide a solid foundation for the next step of the conservation of aquatic resources in the Yellow River, and provide basic support for the high-quality development of fisheries in the Yellow River Basin.

Investigation in Wuliangsu Lake and Dongping Lake