Fisherman Liu Yunhua caught the paddlefish by chance in the Yangtze River a week before the Chinese Lunar New Year. He immediately reported his catch to local fishery authorities and took care of the injured fish until fishery experts arrived.

Under local government decrees, a fisherman who reports the accidental capture of a rare fish to the authorities will be rewarded while those who illegally catch and sell fish under state protection will incur severe penalties.

The endangered paddlefish, listed as being under top national wildlife protection, has been dubbed "the giant panda of the rivers" as it too lives only in China.

The last two reported paddlefish catches in Nanxi County were in 1984 and 1992. Since then, however, the existence of the fish in the wild has remained a mystery until this latest find.

A scientific research team organized by the Chinese government in 2002 searched for traces of the paddlefish along the Yangtze River but found no evidence of its existence in the wild.

To date, scientists still do not know how many of the species survive in their major habitat - the Yangtze River and the Qiantang River in eastern China.

After the recent discovery of the paddlefish, Nanxi County put a ban on fishing in the county's waterways.

The paddlefish has been returned to the Yangtze River after being nursed back to health by fishery scientists.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2003)