China's 'National Treasure' Threatened by Pollution

Pollution in China's Yangtze River is threatening the Chinese sturgeon, dubbed as China's "national treasure," and may very well wipe out this critically endangered species.

This fish is one of the world's oldest living species, swimming on the scene some 140 million years ago, but may soon be erased from existence due to rampant pollution, overfishing and habitat loss from dams.

A report released this week by the Chinese Academy of Fishery Science found that in 2013, for the first time, there was no natural reproduction of wild Chinese sturgeon.

"No natural reproduction means that the sturgeons would not expand its population and without protection, they might risk extinction," Wei Qiwei, an investigator with the academy, told China's official Xinhua news agency.

Now, there are only about 100 Chinese sturgeon left in the wild, down from the thousands that used to swim in the Yangtze River in the 1980s.

According to the World Wildlife Fund, pollution levels in the Yangtze River have risen 73 percent over the last 50 years. This is mostly due to sewage and industrial waste that is routinely dumped into the water, along with nitrogen from agricultural runoff. This flood of chemical has resulted in eutrophication, a process during which excess nutrients creates conditions of low oxygen, making it nearly impossible for species like the sturgeon to thrive.

Because the Chinese sturgeon is such a national treasure, the Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute is conducting a breeding program to raise young fish in captivity and then release them into the river. So far, five million fish have been reintroduced to these waters.

Wild sturgeons are also not the only populations suffering in the region. The Yangtze river dolphin fell by a startling 99.4 percent from 1980 to 2006, while the population of the Chinese alligator fell by 97 percent from 1955 to 2010, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) points out.