The fishery department in southwest China's Sichuan Province sent five teams Sunday to areas along the Yangtze River, China's longest river, to check on the fishing ban which started Sunday noon. 

Along with the local industrial and commercial department and police department, they will check every possible area to make sure there is no fishing boat on the water, no net on the river bank and no fish from the river in the market.

At the same time, other provinces and regions in the upper reaches of the river, including Chongqing, Yunnan and Guizhou, launched similar activities.

The fishing ban in the upper reaches of the river from southwestern China's Yunnan Province to central Hubei Province will run through midday of April 30. From April 1 to June 30, it will cover the lower reaches of the river from Hubei to Shanghai.

The move is calculated to protect and restore fishing resources in the river. China first implemented the ban on the river last year, when a survey showed the fishery output after the ban increased by a large margin compared with previous years. 

(Xinhua News Agency February 2, 2004)