of Acipenser Sinensis, and may lead to the degeneration of gonads. Habitat The Chinese sturgeon is a critically endangered species native to China. It is largely dispersed over the main streams of the Yangtze River and coastal regions of Qiantang River, Minjiang River, and Pearl River. The adults are predators that consume any aquatic animal that can be swallowed, while the young feed on aquatic insects, larvae, diatoms, and humic substances. In the 1970s, an estimated 2,000 Chinese sturgeon spawned in the Yangtze River every year. Now, that number is down to several hundred due to the threats to its habitat, such as pollution and other human action. The channel for adult fish migrating to traditional spawning sites such as the Jinsha River in the upstream of Yangtze River was blocked after the construction of the Gezhouba Dam hydroelectric power project in the early 1980s. The Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences, the Institute of Hydrobiology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Hydro-ecology of the Ministry of Water Resources of China, and the Chinese Sturgeon Research Institute of the Three Gorges Group have been collaboratively monitoring Chinese sturgeon spawning since the 1980s. However, from 2013 to 2014, no new spawning activity was detected and led to the belief that the Chinese sturgeon was near extinction. In 2015, juvenile Chinese sturgeon were found and showed that the Chinese sturgeon had relocated their spawning area in the Yangtze River after suspending spawning for a season. The sturgeon is also highly sensitive to increased noise on the river caused by growing river traffic, as well as being vulnerable to death or injury by boat propellers. Protection and research The primitiveness of the Chinese sturgeon makes it a great academic interest in taxonomy and biology. For this reason, China has been studying ways to breed and preserve the endangered species, classified as "China's Class One Protected Animals" since the 1970s. Built in 1982, the Chinese Sturgeon Museum is part of the Chinese Sturgeon Institution of China which is using artificial breeding techniques to try to preserve this endangered species. The museum is located on a small island called Xiaoxita in the Huangbo River, within Yiling District of Yichang. Repopulation program The Yangtze River Fisheries Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Fisheries Sciences in Jingzhou is one agency charged with breeding sturgeon in captivity for