For seven decades, the Yangtze River was dying.
China's longest river — 3,900 miles of water flowing from the Tibetan Plateau to the East China Sea — had once been one of the most biodiverse freshwater ecosystems on Earth. Over-fishing, pollution, shipping traffic, and dam construction had stripped it of life. By the early 2010s, fish populations had collapsed to a fraction of historic levels. The Yangtze river dolphin (baiji) was declared functionally extinct. The Yangtze finless porpoise — the river's only remaining freshwater mammal — was heading the same way.
In January 2021, China made a bold decision: a complete 10-year fishing ban across the Yangtze's main stem, all major tributaries, and connected lakes. No commercial fishing. No exceptions. 200,000 fishermen were retrained and reemployed in other industries.
Four years later, a landmark study published in the journal *Science* has delivered a verdict that stunned even the scientists conducting it.
**Fish biomass in the Yangtze has risen by 209% compared to pre-ban levels.** Not 20%. Not 50%. More than double — and then some. Larger-bodied species — the ones most devastated by decades of industrial fishing — saw average biomass gains of 232%. Species diversity improved. Body condition improved. A seven-decade slide in biodiversity had not just slowed. It had reversed.
'The speed and scale of recovery exceeded what we expected,' said one of the study's lead researchers. 'It demonstrates what becomes possible when you remove fishing pressure completely and give a river the chance to breathe.'
And the porpoises? The ones that had dwindled to just 445 individuals in 2017?
A 2025 survey counted **1,426** — more than three times the 2017 figure. What was a species clearly heading toward extinction has become, cautiously, a species heading toward recovery.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is described by scientists as the river's barometer — an indicator of overall ecological health. When they thrive, the river thrives. And right now, after decades of despair, the porpoises are thriving.
The fishing ban runs until 2030. What happens after that will determine whether this recovery is permanent or temporary. But the evidence from the first four years is unambiguous: given time and protection, rivers can come back.
The Yangtze is proving it. 🐬
*Sources: Science journal (Feb 2026) · South China Morning Post · Good News Network · Inside Climate News · EurekaAlert*
