Under the supervision and guidance of Nansha District Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau and Guangzhou Coast Guard and with full notarial certification by the Nansha Notary Office, more than 100 representatives from the Guangdong Provincial Department of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Guangzhou Municipal Agriculture and Rural Affairs Bureau, district-level departments, construction participants of the International General Terminal Project and various sectors of society jointly released 1,320 yellow croakers (Bahaba taipingensis) and 4.28 million juveniles of six other species, including yellowfin seabream, black seabream, Japanese seabass, grey mullet, giant tiger prawn and Venus clam.

 

Ecology First: SOEs Taking the Lead in Green Development

 

As a key construction project for both Guangdong Province and Guangzhou City, the Nansha Port Area International General Terminal is a core component of Guangzhou's efforts to build an international shipping hub. Located at the geometric center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA), the project, once completed, will significantly enhance the international competitiveness of the GBA port cluster and strengthen support for the region's open economy to help integrate the GBA more deeply into the global development landscape.

 

In his speech, Zhu Shaobing, Deputy General Manager of Guangzhou Port Co., Ltd., stated, "The project strictly follows environmental impact assessment requirements, integrating ecological protection throughout the entire planning, construction and operation cycle. This fish release is both a practical implementation of our ecological restoration responsibilities and a concrete commitment to safeguarding Nansha's blue waters and clear skies."

 

Jiang Zhigang, Executive Deputy Director of the Nansha District "High-quality Development Project for Hundreds of Counties, Thousands of Towns and Tens of Thousands of Villages" Command Office, highly praised Guangzhou Port's "Ecology-Oriented Port Construction" concept, "Taking fish release as an entry point, Nansha International General Terminal has not only replenished biological resources in the Pearl River Estuary and enhanced aquatic ecosystem resilience but has also set a benchmark for building green ports in the Greater Bay Area."

 

Scientific Release: Multi-Party Collaboration to Protect Aquatic Ecology

 

To ensure a scientific and standardized process, Guangzhou Port Co., Ltd. entrusted Guangdong Beluga Whale Marine Biotechnology Co., Ltd and Guangzhou Nansha Zhihui Agricultural Technology Co., Ltd. to carry out the juvenile fish release, with technical support provided by Pearl River Hydraulic Research Institute of the Pearl River Water Resources Commission and Central Cycle Ecology Technology Co.Ltd. The event adopted a phased release approach, with supervision organizations, government departments and enterprise representatives participating and Nansha Notary Office supervising the entire process.

 

The yellow croaker released is a nationally protected Class I species, while the other species are native, economically valuable fishes and shellfishes from the Pearl River Estuary. These releases will help optimize the food chain structure of the Lingdingyang waters to promote sustainable fisheries development. A representative from the Nansha Notary Office said, "Ranging from quality inspection of the juveniles to verification of release quantities, every step strictly followed technical standards, so as to ensure that the activity was compliant and efficient."

 

Unremitting Efforts: Advancing the Green Port Vision

 

According to a representative from Guangzhou Nansha International General Terminal Co., Ltd., the company has, since its inception, integrated the green development concept into port construction - reducing pollutant emissions by optimizing processes, building ecological shorelines and conducting marine life monitoring - to form a full-chain "construction–operation–restoration" environmental protection system. This event represents a deepened practice of Guangzhou Port's “Green and Beautiful Port" strategy. In the future, the company will continue to advance ecological shoreline restoration, Chinese white dolphin monitoring and other ecological projects, providing green momentum for building a world-class port and injecting strong ecological vitality into the high-quality development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

 

In recent years, Guangzhou Port has continued to increase investment in environmental protection, implementing multiple ecological projects in the Nansha Port Area. Since 2022, Guangzhou Port has released over 13 million juveniles into the Pearl River. This fish release not only brings together public consensus on aquatic ecological protection but also demonstrates the responsibility of state-owned enterprises to "protect lucid waters and lush mountains while serving regional development". (Text by Gan Yongjun, Photo by the organizer)