CHANGCHUN, April 16 (Xinhua) -- China has released 600,000 salmon fry into the Tumenjiang River to restore aquatic life and support cross-border ecological cooperation in Northeast Asia.

The release took place in the Mijiang River area, a national aquatic germplasm protection zone for salmon in Hunchun City, northeast China's Jilin Province. The Tumenjiang River runs along the borders of China, Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The Mijiang River, a key tributary of the Tumenjiang River, is a vital spawning and migration route for wild salmon.

In recent years, wild salmon populations have dropped sharply due to environmental changes, land and waterway development, and fishing activities. To reverse this decline, China has carried out science-based stock enhancement: breeding and releasing native fish to rebuild wild populations.

These locally bred salmon are well-adapted to the native ecosystem. They will swim downstream into the Sea of Japan and, in four to five years, the mature fish will return to the Tumenjiang River to spawn, helping sustain the natural population cycle.

China has carried out this practice for 19 consecutive years, releasing over 42.28 million native salmon fry into the Tumenjiang River system. The provincial government has also imposed seasonal fishing bans, cracked down on illegal fishing and monitored water quality. As the ecosystem recovers, local villagers have seen their incomes rise through ecotourism and fish farming.

China has been steadily advancing cross-border cooperation on the Tumenjiang River and other transboundary waterways, including joint fish and water monitoring, coordinated fishing bans and public education on aquatic conservation. ■