More than 100 mullet will be freed in the Suzhou River next year
to monitor the aquatic environment in China's business hub of
Shanghai.
It will be the first time that researchers in Shanghai have used
fish to monitor the environment, said Tang Wenqiao, a biology
professor with Shanghai Fisheries University at the China Fishery
Conference on Tuesday.
Mullet, also known as "Asian mermaids," are fish whose
biological index changes if the heavy metal or poisonous organic
content of water is too high. Mullet is deemed as natural monitor
of water quality, said Tang.
Suzhou River, Shanghai's mother river, was badly polluted in the
1970s. People can seldom find fish and shrimp from the river for 27
years, according to Liberation Daily, a local
newspaper.
Over the past decade, the government has invested 11 billion
yuan (US$1.38 billion) in improving the water quality.
A simulated experiment in the river proved that the mullet can
now live in the current water environment, said Tang.
(Xinhua News Agency October 19, 2006)
