An annual three-month fishing ban began on Sunday on the middle and lower reaches of China's Yangtze River as part of efforts to preserve fish stocks.

The ban, which will be in place from April 1 to June 30, also applies to the Hanjiang River, a key tributary of the Yangtze River that flows through central China's Hubei province, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.

Fishing and other activities that may threaten fish will be banned on the rivers during the period, while fishermen affected by the ban will receive subsidies. The government of Wuhuan will release about 50 million young fish into the rivers during the ban.

The seasonal ban, designed to protect the river's fishery resources, has been in place since 2002. The ban covers a section of the Yangtze River between the Gezhouba Dam in Hubei and the river's estuary.

Another three-month fishing ban for a separate section located between the river's headwaters and the Gezhouba Dam started on February 1.