A man releases juvenile crabs in the Yangtze River. [Photo/ntjoy.com]

Tongzhou district – under the jurisdiction of Nantong in East China's Jiangsu province – released over 1 million fish fry and 7,309 kilograms of juvenile crabs in four different sections of the Yangtze River on Feb 17.

Shi Hongwei, 52, is a fishing protection member of Tongzhou's Wujie town. He has been engaged with fishing in the Yangtze River for more than 30 years before. In 2019, he quit and became a guard.

Releasing fry and juvenile crabs by hand, Shi felt great to contribute in the proliferation of life in the river. Zhang Kaihang, a student from Nanjing Tech University, also participated in the event as one of the eight volunteers.

The provincial department responsible for fishery monitoring will dynamically monitor the growth of the released fish fry and juvenile crabs to ensure that they thrive and play a positive role in the river's ecological environment, according to Yuan Tianming, deputy head of Tongzhou.

In response to the 10-year fishing ban along the Yangtze River which was proposed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs in 2020 and enacted at the beginning of 2021, the departments and towns in Tongzhou have taken multiple measures to let fishermen and boats relinquish their nets.