URUMQI, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- A total of 100,000 fry have been released in the Yarkant River in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region through the Aratax water conservation project, the largest of its kind being built in the region.

The release of the young fish, mainly consisting of four fish species endemic to Xinjiang including the protected Tarim schizothoracin and Diptychus maculatus, is expected to improve the ecology and biodiversity of the waters of the Yarkant.

The 1,289-km-long Yarkant in Tarim Basin is the most flood-prone river in Xinjiang, especially when the snow melts in the upstream Karakoram Mountains.

Standing in the Karakoram Mountain Valley and dubbed the "Three Gorges" project in Xinjiang, the Aratax project is one of the 172 major national water conservation and supply projects in China. A fish breeding station was built at the project site in 2019.

More fry will be released in the next three years, according to Yang Jie, who works with the project's developer, which is a hydropower subsidiary of the China National Nuclear Corporation.

The company will also carry out tagged releasing, trace monitoring and evaluate the effect of the released fry, Yang said.

Many major water conservation projects in Xinjiang have set up fish breeding stations in recent years, releasing more artificially-bred fry of endangered species, thus restoring their population and improving the ecological environment of rivers and lakes. Enditem