Authorities in east China's Jiangsu province said on Thursday that they will release algae-eating fish into Taihu Lake, the country's third-largest freshwater lake, in order to fight pollution.

A total of 475 metric tons of fish, largely silver carp, will be released into the 2,400-square-km lake over the next few days, said Shen Zhenhua, an official with the lake's fishery management office.

The fish are being released into the lake to fight algae blooms that have plagued the lake in recent years. The introduction of the fish is also expected to benefit the local fishing industry.

Taihu Lake, a major source of drinking water that straddles Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, has been seriously polluted by sewage, as well as industrial and agricultural waste, which has encouraged blue-green algae to grow on the lake.

The local government began to use silver carp to clean the lake in 2009 after blue-green algae choked the lake, affecting drinking water supplies for millions of local residents.