Target: Han Jun, Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing, China
Goal: Enforce tough penalties on illegal nets and toxic discharges, slow river traffic in porpoise hotspots, and expand protected habitats to keep Yangtze finless porpoises from vanishing.
The Yangtze finless porpoise is a living gauge of the great river’s health—and it is in danger. Their numbers crashed from the thousands to just over a thousand within a generation as nets strangled them, ship propellers struck them, and polluted waters stripped away their food. Even with recent gains, these curious, “smiling” porpoises face a daily gauntlet of entanglement, noise, and contamination in one of the world’s busiest working rivers.
The threats are concrete and deadly. Gillnets and other entangling gear trap porpoises underwater, where minutes mean the difference between life and death. Heavy cargo traffic brings high-speed hulls and spinning propellers through the same channels porpoises use to feed and surface. Industrial runoff and sewage foul the water and push fish stocks downward, forcing porpoises to search longer, riskier, hungrier hours for a meal. The Yangtze has already lost its baiji dolphin; the finless porpoise cannot be the next to disappear.
China has tools in hand—the Yangtze River Protection Law, the 10-year fishing ban, protected reserves, and proven breeding and reintroduction programs. What’s needed now is stronger, faster enforcement and smart adjustments on the water: zero-tolerance removal of illegal gear, slow-traffic and quiet zones in porpoise hotspots, stricter discharge controls with real-time monitoring, and expanded sanctuaries where these animals can feed and raise young in safety. This petition urges immediate action to deliver those protections and real consequences for those who endanger the species.
PETITION LETTER:
Dear Secretary Han Jun,
The Yangtze finless porpoise is in peril. Entangling nets, toxic discharges, shrinking fish stocks, and fast, noisy river traffic are a lethal combination in the very waters these animals need to breathe, feed, and raise their young. The Yangtze has already lost its iconic baiji dolphin; allowing another native cetacean to slip away would be an irrevocable tragedy.
We respectfully urge you to intensify on-the-ground enforcement and deterrence. Remove and destroy illegal fishing gear on sight, publish violations and penalties, and impose meaningful fines and suspensions that actually prevent repeat offenses. Extend and strengthen fishing restrictions in known porpoise habitats, pair gear buy-backs with alternative-livelihood support, and require pingers or other bycatch-reduction technologies where any legal netting persists.
We also ask you to make the river safer where porpoises live. Establish slow-speed and “quiet navigation” corridors in hotspot stretches; mandate route and timing adjustments that steer heavy traffic away from nursery areas; and expand protected oxbow and reserve habitats. Tighten industrial discharge permits, deploy continuous water-quality sensors, and increase independent audits so polluters face swift sanctions. Finally, scale up acoustic and drone monitoring, rescue capacity, and breeding/reintroduction programs that are already showing promise.
With prompt, public, and enforceable measures, the Yangtze can remain a working river without becoming a silent one. Please act now and publish a clear timeline for these safeguards so this remarkable species has a future.
Sincerely,
[Your Name Here]
Photo Credit: Quang Nguyen Vinh
