Freshwater capture fisheries are globally essential for food security and aquatic biodiversity conservation. The Yangtze River Basin is the third longest and one of the most human‐influenced drainage basins worldwide. Since the founding of P. R. China in 1949, this large river system has suffered increasing human perturbation and its sustainable development is now severely challenged. Meta‐analysis showed that Yangtze River fisheries have experienced an extraordinary process of utilization–over‐exploitation–protection during the past 70 years, to an extent that other globally important rivers may never have encountered. Its fisheries appear to have collapsed over the past four decades, with yield decreasing to only 25% of an historical peak of 400,000 metric tonnes in the late 1950s. Endemic, migratory and rare fishes have been highly threatened with obvious changes in fish community structure and aquatic biodiversity. Anthropogenic activities, including impoundment of water in dams, discharge of pollutants and riverine modification for vessel navigation, have caused large decreases in fisheries yields. Projections from surplus production modelling showed potential for improvement under fishing ban scenarios, but without any prospect for full recovery to historical stock status. This study revealed that the change in fisheries resources was dominated by the social–ecological watershed system, and an integrated approach to river basin management is warranted. Better management of freshwater ecosystems to integrate food security with biodiversity conservation is urgently needed throughout the world, and the changes evident in the Yangtze River fish populations can serve as an informative global reference.

中文翻译：

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长江渔业的快速变化及其对全球淡水生态系统管理的影响

淡水捕捞渔业对于粮食安全和水生生物多样性保护在全球至关重要。长江流域是世界第三长的流域，也是受人类影响最大的流域之一。自1949年中华人民共和国成立以来，这一大型河流系统遭受了越来越多的人为干扰，其可持续发展现在受到严重挑战。荟萃分析显示，在过去的70年中，长江渔业经历了非凡的利用，过度开发和保护过程，其程度可能使其他全球重要的河流从未遇过。在过去的四十年中，该国的渔业似乎已经崩溃，单产下降到1950年代后期40万吨的历史峰值的25％。地方性 鱼类和群落稀有鱼类受到高度威胁，鱼类群落结构和水生生物多样性发生明显变化。人为活动，包括在大坝中蓄水，排放污染物和对船只航行进行河道改造，已导致渔业产量大幅度下降。剩余生产模型的预测显示，在禁止捕捞的情况下有改进的潜力，但没有完全恢复到历史种群状况的任何前景。这项研究表明，渔业资源的变化以社会生态分水岭系统为主导，因此有必要采用综合方法来管理流域。迫切需要在全世界范围内更好地管理淡水生态系统，以将粮食安全与生物多样性保护结合起来，