ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Mar. Sci.
Sec. Marine Fisheries, Aquaculture and Living Resources
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1638854
This article is part of the Research TopicChallenges in Fishery Assessment MethodologiesView all 15 articles
Assessing the Stock Recovery of Coilia nasus in the Yangtze River-Poyang Lake Waterway and Adjacent Waters, Using the Length-Based Bayesian Biomass (LBB) Method
Provisionally accepted
Yulan Luo1
Qun Xu2Sheng Wang3
LUO Zhengli1Chiping Kong2Legen Peng3Bao Zhang2Baolong Bao1Lekang Li2*
Xiaoling Gong1*- 1Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
- 2Jiujiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiujiang, China
- 3Aquatic Conservation and Rescue Center of Jiangxi Province, Nanchang, China
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The comprehensive ten-year fishing ban implemented in the Yangtze River on January 1, 2021, represents a critical ecological conservation measure and national strategic priority in China. Assessment of the ban's effectiveness is essential to guide future long-term conservation efforts. This study systematically analyzed changes in the stock structure and biomass dynamics of Coilia nasus in the Yangtze River-Poyang Lake waterway and adjacent waters from 2019 to 2024 using the Length-Based Bayesian Biomass (LBB) method. Results showed a notable improvement in age structure, with the proportion of four-year-old individuals increasing from 3.2% in 2020 to 17.2% in 2024, effectively reversing the previous trend toward younger, smaller fish. The average body length and weight increased significantly, from 271.20 ± 38.44 mm, 68.52 ± 33.26 g in 2019 to 305.53 ± 37.99 mm, 88.02 ± 32.01 g in 2024 (P < 0.05). The dominant size classes shifted step by step, from 250-260 mm, 50-60 g in 2019 to 330-340 mm, 120-130 g in 2024. According to the LBB model, the relative biomass (B/B0) increased from 0.17 to 0.68, and biomass relative to the maximum sustainable yield (B/Bmsy) rose from 0.48 to 1.9, demonstrating a transition in the stock status from "outside of safe biological limits" to "healthy" from 2019 to 2024. These trends, along with increases in the Lmean/Lopt, Lc/Lcopt ratios and other indexes, highlight improvements in size structure and a greater presence of larger individuals. In addition, the fishing mortality to natural mortality ratio (F/M) markedly declined from 2.6 in 2019 to 0.37 in 2024, underscoring the substantial alleviation of fishing pressure under the ban. To further validate these findings, SPR was estimated using the LBSPR model, increasing from 0.19 to 0.42 and suggesting improved reproductive sustainability. These findings provide strong evidence that the fishing ban has played a critical role in the stock recovery of C. nasus and mitigating the effects of overfishing.
Keywords: the fishing ban, Coilia nasus, Stock structure, Yangtze River, Poyang Lake, LBB method
Received: 31 May 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Luo, Xu, Wang, Zhengli, Kong, Peng, Zhang, Bao, Li and Gong. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Lekang Li, Jiujiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Jiujiang, China
Xiaoling Gong, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China
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