China began to demolish aquafarms adjacent to the Three Gorges Dam on Wednesday, affecting more than 600 culturists raising some 3,000 tonnes of fish.

Workers are dismantling aquafarm facilities in Zigui County in the upper reaches of the dam in an effort to ensure navigation safety and water quality, said Dong Jinfeng, director with the agricultural bureau of Zigui in Yichang City.

About 181 households will have to sell out some 3,000 tonnes of live fish worth about 60 million yuan (8.79 million U.S. dollars) by the end of the month, the deadline of the demolition.

Those who comply with the campaign will get up to 3,000 yuan in compensation for each of the submerged case, according to a circular issued by the county government in September. Those who refuse to cooperate will get nothing in return.

The county registers 7,509 such cases, the basic facility to raise fish in the offshore water areas in the Yangtze River, over which the Dam was built.