LHASA, July 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of 2.65 million fish have been proliferated and released this year in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, including six fish species endemic to the Lhasa River, to further aid local aquatic biodiversity conservation.

Currently, 71 species (including subspecies) of indigenous fish can be found in Tibet. Tsedrum, president of the Tibet Academy of Agricultural and Animal Husbandry Sciences, said that problems such as overfishing in some river basins, invasion by exotic fish and destruction of fish habitats have threatened Tibet's indigenous fish resources over the past decade.

This has prompted the region to carry out fish proliferation and release activities since 2009. To date, Tibet has released more than 30 million fish, which has played a significant role in protecting local fish resources.

"Compared with other places, Tibet's fish resources are scarce, slow in growth and low in fecundity, and proliferation and release can effectively promote the protection and restoration of Tibet's unique fish resources and help with aquatic biodiversity conservation," said Wangchuk, deputy director of the institute of fishery sciences under the academy.