Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Passive drifting and high mortality rate of released subadult Chinese sturgeons in the Yangtze River

  • Original Research
  • Published:
Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Captive-breeding and release, also known as restocking, is widely used as the main response to the widespread decline of key migratory fish species around the world. However, it has been less effective, particularly in China. The “bigger-is-better” paradigm, which implies that releasing larger captive-bred individuals can achieve greater benefits, remains controversial internationally, but is taken for granted in China. Here, we propose a novel analytical framework to reveal the relationship between the movement patterns and en-route mortality of released fish that challenges the paradigm. We use the framework to analyze the migration dynamics behavior of subadult Chinese sturgeons released into the Yangtze River and show that the subadults exhibited passive drifting with the current, in contrast to the active behavior of the wild counterparts. We then classify the migration survivability of released individuals into three types (normal, abnormal, dead) and show that there was a state transition leading to death during migration, namely normal → abnormal → dead. We find that passive drifting of subadults is strongly associated with high mortality, and that the cumulative survival rate of released subadults decreases exponentially with migration distance, explaining the universal exponential law in rivers for global migratory fishes. We show that the daily mortality rate of released subadults was approximately 33 times higher than in situ conditions, with the mismatch between their life-history stage and the environment as the main cause of the paradigm failure. Finally, we recommend a near-natural release method to improve efficiency.

Graphical abstract

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

Data availability

Matlab software codes of MDM and IBM, raw data for the model parameters and calculated results are available online via a Mendeley Data repository with DOI links at https://data.mendeley.com/datasets/spdcy9b5sd/1.

References

  • Aarestrup K, Baktoft H, Thorstad E, Svendsen J, Höjesjö J, Koed A (2015) Survival and progression rates of anadromous brown trout kelts salmo trutta during downstream migration in freshwater and at sea. Marine Ecol Prog 535:185–195

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Allen PJ, Cech JJ (2007) Age/size effects on juvenile green sturgeon, Acipenser medirostris, oxygen consumption, growth, and osmoregulation in saline environments. Environ Biol Fish 79(3):211–229

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Araki H, Cooper B, Blouin MS (2007) Genetic effects of captive breeding cause a rapid, cumulative fitness decline in the wild. Science 318:100–103

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Araki H, Schmid C (2010) Is hatchery stocking a help or harm? Evidence, limitations, and future directions in ecological and genetic surveys. Aquaculture 308:S2–S11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Boscari E, Wu JM, Jiang T et al (2022) The last giants of the Yangtze River: a multidisciplinary picture of what remains of the endemic Chinese sturgeon. Sci Total Environ 843:157011

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bowkett AE (2009) Recent captive-breeding proposals and the return of the ark concept to global species conservation. Conserv Biol 23(3):773–776. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.01157.x

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brown C, Day RL (2002) The future of stock enhancements: lessons for hatchery practice from conservation biology. Fish Fish 3(2):79–94

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chai Y, Sun DD, Wei QW (2010) Analysis on flesh rate and nutritive composition of muscle in 1–year old artificially bred Acipenser sinensis Gray. J Anhui Agricult Sci 38(18):9549–9550. https://doi.org/10.13989/j.cnki.0517-6611.2010.18.165

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Clark TD, Furey NB, Rechisky EL et al (2016) Tracking wild sockeye salmon smolts to the ocean reveals distinct regions of nocturnal movement and high mortality. Ecol Appl 26(4):959–978

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cowx IG (1994) Stocking strategies. Fish Manag Ecol 1:15–30

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crank J, Nicolson E (1996) A practical method for numerical evaluation of solutions of partial differential equations of the heat-conduction type. Adv Comput Math 6:207–226

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Dudley PN (2019) Insights from an individual-based model of a fish population on a large regulated river. Environ Biol Fishes 102(8):1069–1095

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ewing RD, Ewing GS (2002) Bimodal length distributions of cultured chinook salmon and the relationship of length modes to adult survival. Aquaculture 209:139–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner JR, Smith SG, Muir WD, Marsh DM, Williams JG (2009) Survival estimates for the passage of spring-migrating juvenile salmonids through Snake and Columbia River Dams and Reservoirs. Report of research by Fish Ecology Division Northwest Fisheries Science Center, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 2725 Montlake Boulevard East, Seattle, Washington 98112–2097

  • Fisher HB, List EJ, Koh RCY, Imberoer J, Brooks NH (1979) Mixing in inland and coastal waters. Academic Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleming IA, Hindar K, Mjølnerød IB, Jonsson B, Balstad T, Lamberg A (2000) Lifetime success and interactions of farm Atlantic salmon invading a native population. Proc R Soc Lond B 267:1517–1523

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Gao X, Chang T, Lin PC, Liu HZ (2021) Ecological and environmental assessment index in the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River based on the spawning population size of Chinese sturgeon. Acta Hydrobiol Sin 45(6):1396–1399

    Google Scholar 

  • Gao X, Zhang FT, Chang T, Liu HZ (2020) Discussion on the gonadal development and degeneration of Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis. Acta Hydrobiol Sin 44:1369–1377

    Google Scholar 

  • Glas M, Tritthart M, Zens B, Keckeis H, Lechner A, Kaminskas T, Habersack H (2017) Modelling the dispersal of riverine fish larvae: from a raster-based analysis of movement patterns within a racetrack flume to a rheoreaction-based correlated random walk (RCRW) model approach. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 74:1474–1489. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory SD, Ibbotson AT, Riley WD et al (2019) Atlantic salmon return rate increases with smolt length. ICES J Mar Sci 76(6):1702–1712. https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsz06

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grimm V, Berger U, Bastiansen F et al (2006) A standard protocol for describing individual-based and agent-based models. Ecol Model 198(1–2):115–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harvey BC, Railsback SF (2007) Estimating multi-factor cumulative watershed effects on fish populations with an individual-based model. Fisheries 32(6):292–298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hemelrijk CK, Hanspeter K (2004) Density distribution and size sorting in fish schools: an individual-based model. Behav Ecol 16(1):178–187

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZL (2019) Drifting with the flow versus self-migrating—how do young anadromous fish move to the sea? iScience 19(9):772–785

    Article  ADS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZL, Wang LH (2018) Yangtze dams increasingly threaten the survival of the Chinese sturgeon. Curr Biol 28(22):3640–3647

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Huang ZL, Wu BF (2018) Three Gorges Dam—environmental monitoring network and practice. Springer, Berlin

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • IHB (Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) (1982) Investigation report on the natural reproduction of Chinese sturgeon downstream of Gezhouba Dam. In Discussion on major technical issues of Gezhouba Dam (Vol. 4–Fish Rescue) (Ed Representative Office stationed in Gezhouba Project and Yangtze River Water Resources Commission, Ministry of Water Resources and Electric Power, 1989) 4–8.

  • Jackson GD (2011) The development of the Pacific Ocean Shelf tracking project within the decade-long census of marine life. PLoS ONE 6(4):e18999. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0018999

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson B, Jonsson N (2021) Continuous outmigration and sequential encountering of environmental cues are important for successful homing through a fjord in anadromous brown trout Salmo trutta. J Fish Biol 98:1481–1484. https://doi.org/10.1111/JFB.14673

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson B, Jonsson M, Jonsson N (2016) Optimal size at seaward migration in an anadromous salmonid. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 559:193–200

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson B, Jonsson M, Jonsson N (2017) Influences of migration phenology on survival are size-dependent in juvenile Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Can J of Zool 95:581–587

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson B, Jonsson N, Jonsson M (2019) Supportive breeders of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar have reduced fitness in nature. Conserv Sci Pract 1(9):c85. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.85

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson B, Waples RS, Friedland KD (1999) Extinction considerations for diadromous fishes. ICES J Mar Sci 56:405–409

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Justice C, Pyper BJ, Beamesderfer RCP et al (2009) Evidence of density- and size-dependent mortality in hatchery-reared juvenile white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus) in the Kootenai River. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 66(5):802–815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keefer ML, Peery CA, Heinrich MJ (2008) Temperature-mediated en route migration mortality and travel rates of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon. Ecol Freshw Fish 17:136–145

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly JT, Klimley AP (2012) Relating the swimming movements of green sturgeon to the movement of water currents. Environ Biol Fish 93:151–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kristensen ML, Birnie-Gauvin K, Aarestrup K (2018) Routes and survival of anadromous brown trout Salmo trutta L. post-smolts during early marine migration through a Danish fjord system. Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 209:102–109

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  • Lechner A, Keckeis H, Glas M, Tritthart M, Habersack H, Andorfer L, Humphries P (2018) The influence of discharge, current speed and development on the downstream dispersal of larval nase (Chondrostoma nasus) in the River Danube. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 75:247–259. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0340

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mcdermot D, Rose KA (2000) An individual-based model of lake fish communities: application to piscivore stocking in Lake Mendota. Ecol Model 125(1):670–102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Melnychuk MC, Korman J, Hausch S et al (2014) Marine survival difference between wild and hatchery-reared steelhead trout determined during early downstream migration. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 71(6):831–846

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Mrnak JT, Heironimus LB, James DA, Chipps SR (2020) Effect of water velocity and temperature on energy use, behavior and mortality of pallid sturgeon Scaphirhynchus albus larvae. J Fish Biol 97(6):1690–1700

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nilsson C (2005) Fragmentation and flow regulation of the world’s large river systems. Science 308(5720):405–408

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Okubo A, Levin SA (2001) Diffusion and ecological problems: modern perspectives, 2nd edn. Springer, New York

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Pavlov DS, Mikheev VN (2017) Downstream migration and mechanisms of dispersal of young fish in rivers. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 74:1312–1323. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0298

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poff NL, Schmidt JC (2016) How dams can go with the flow. Science 353(6304):1099

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Qu Y (2012) Relationship between lateral morphology and swimming performance of two sturgeon species. Master thesis. Shanghai, China: Shanghai Ocean University

  • Scherrer et al (2018) Depth- and range-dependent variation in the performance of aquatic telemetry systems: understanding and predicting the susceptibility of acoustic tag–receiver pairs to close proximity detection interference. Peer J 6:e4249. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.4249

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Spitzbart A (1960) A generalization of Hermite’s interpolation formula. Am Math Mon 67(1):42–46

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Tamario C, Sunde J, Petersson E, Tibblin P, Forsman A (2019) Ecological and evolutionary consequences of environmental change and management actions for migrating fish. Front Ecol Evol 7:1–24. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2019.00271

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wei QW et al (2019) Conservation biology of Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis). Science Press, Beijing

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei QW, Li LX, Du H et al (2013) Research on technology for controlled propagation of cultured Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis). J Fish Sci China 20(1):1–11

    Google Scholar 

  • Wei QW (2003) Reproductive behavioral ecology of Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray) with its stock assessment. PhD thesis, Institute of hydrobiology, CAS; Wuhan, China. http://ir.ihb.ac.cn/handle/342005/19195

  • Welch DW, Rechisky EL, Melnychuk MC et al (2008) Survival of migrating salmon smolts in large rivers with and without dams. PLoS Biol 6(10):2101–2108

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Winemiller KO, McIntyre PB, Castello L et al (2016) Balancing hydropower and biodiversity in the Amazon, Congo, and Mekong. Science 351(6269):128–129

    Article  ADS  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wu C, Chen L, Gao Y et al (2018) Seaward migration behavior of juvenile second filial generation Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis in the Yangtze River, China. Fish Sci 84:71–78

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JM, Wang CY, Zhang SH, Zhang H, Du H, Liu ZG, Wei QW (2017) From continuous to occasional: small-scale natural reproduction of Chinese sturgeon occurred in the Gezhouba spawning ground, Yichang, China. J Fish Sci China 24:425–431

    Google Scholar 

  • Yang DG, Wei QW, Wang K et al (2005) Downstream migration of tag-released juvenile Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) in the Yangtze river. Acta Hydrobiol Sin 29(1):26–30

    Google Scholar 

  • Yarincik K, Odor R (2005) The Census of marine life: goals, scope and strategy. Sci Mar 69(suppl.1):201–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yu D et al (2023) Novel insights into the reproductive strategies of wild Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) populations based on the kinship analysis. Water Biol Secur 2(2):100134. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watbs.2023.100134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yuan X, Huang YP, Guo WT et al (2018) Effects of temperature and repeated exercise on the swimming behavior of Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis). J Hydroecol 39(1):63–68

    Google Scholar 

  • Zens B, Glas B, Tritthart M, Habersack H, Keckeis H (2018) Movement patterns and rheoreaction of larvae of a fluvial specialist (nase, Chondrostoma nasus): the role of active versus passive components of behaviour in dispersal. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 75:193–200. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjfas-2016-0276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang YZ, Zhang XY, Du H et al (2017) Free-swimming velocity and respiratory frequency related to the age and gonadal development of Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) in the aquarium. Chin J Zool 52(4):680–684

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhong L, Jiang T, Zhang JM et al (2019) PIV experimental study on velocity fluctuations of turbulent flow in open channel. Adv Eng Sci 51(4):84–93. https://doi.org/10.15961/j.jsuese.201800495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhu B, Zhou F, Cao H et al (2010) Analysis of genetic variation in the Chinese sturgeon Acipenser sinensis: estimating the contribution of artificially produced larvae in a wild population. J Appl Ichthys 18:301–306

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We are very grateful to the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of the China Three Gorges Corporation for providing raw data of the release program in 2015 and 2016 in the paper by Wu et al. (2018), and the Yangtze River Hydrology Bureau for providing hydrological data of nine national hydrometric stations.

Funding

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52079148) and IWHR Research & Development Support Program (HTSS0145B022021).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100038, China

    Luhai Wang & Zhenli Huang

Authors
  1. Luhai Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Zhenli Huang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

LW: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Data Curation, Formal analysis, Writing—Original draft preparation, Visualization. ZH: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing—Review & Editing, Investigation, Visualization, Project administration, Supervision, Funding acquisition.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Zhenli Huang.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 1253 kb)

Supplementary file2 (MP4 23777 kb)

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wang, L., Huang, Z. Passive drifting and high mortality rate of released subadult Chinese sturgeons in the Yangtze River. Rev Fish Biol Fisheries 34, 201–219 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-023-09804-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11160-023-09804-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation