Fishermen from Lianjiang County in south China's Fujian Province landed a large Chinese sturgeon, a rare variety of fish, in the East China Sea on the morning of January 11.

The 2.6-meter fish, weighing about 150 kg, was the largest one caught in the province. It was released at 5 pm that afternoon after identified by local experts.

Known as a living fossil, the Chinese sturgeon is one of the oldest vertebrates in the world, surviving for more than 150 million years. The species is now under top state protection.

As the largest fish in the sturgeon family, the Chinese sturgeon is peculiar to China waters.

The number of Chinese sturgeons has decreased drastically in recent years due to river pollution, busier shipping, illegal fishing and the building of dams.

The government has banned the fishing of Chinese sturgeon and controlled pollution to protect it and in recent years, millions of sturgeon fry were put into the Yangtze River to encourage breeding.

(Xinhua News Agency January 17, 2002)