Chinese Paddlefish, Another Sturgeon Species Officially Declared Extinct

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) announced on Thursday that the Chinese paddlefish and wild Yangtze Sturgeon have become extinct. Both the species of fish have been added to its revised Red List of vulnerable species, according to a report from Global Times.

The research is a detailed assessment of the world's sturgeon and paddlefish population and also reveals that all 26 remaining species of both types of fish are now threatened with extinction, up from 85 per cent in 2009.

The Chinese paddlefish had been protected in China since the 1980s due to population decline following overfishing and habitat fragmentation. The construction of the Gezhouba Dam in 1981 is regarded one of the key causes for the fall in Chinese paddlefish population, according to a report in Newsweek.

The IUCN Red List currently lists 17 species as severely endangered, three as endangered, and five as vulnerable.

Expert consider rehabilitation of freshwater habitats and construction of adequate fish routes, as well as restocking, as critical efforts to ensure the long-term survival of the world's sturgeons.

The Yangtze Sturgeon and Chinese paddlefish are both typical aquatic species of the Yangtze River Basin. With a maximum length of 7 metres, the Chinese paddlefish is one of the world's biggest freshwater fish species. It is native to China and is the Yangtze River's flagship species, Global Times said.

The Chinese paddlefish was designated a first-class state protected species in China in 1989, and the IUCN named it "critically endangered" in 1996. According to IUCN specialists, the fish was last sighted in the wild in 2003, the outlet further reported.