The Fishery Resources Reproduction and Conservation Academician Workstation was established in Jing’an County located in Jiangxi Province on June 20, 2018. 

The Fishery Resources Reproduction and Conservation Academician Workstation was established in Jing’an County located in Jiangxi Province on June 20, 2018, which aiming to accelerate the sustainable development of modern fisheries and the industrialization of special aquatic products in Jing'an County.   

The plaque unveiling ceremony was held in the Jing’an Institute of Giant Salamander.  Prof. CAO Wenxuan, academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and LAN Yaqing, deputy mayor of Yichun City, attended this ceremony.   

The endangered giant salamander, known as the "baby fish" because it makes noises like a baby crying, has existed for more than 350 million years. In recent years, the population size of giant salamander decreased rapidly due to its important value as a source of traditional Chinese medicine ingredients and as food, poaching and loss of habitat and pollution. It has been included in the list of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, and it is under state conservation in China.    

Jing’an county is one of China's major salamander production areas and has the largest artificial breeding and conservation base for the endangered giant salamander in China. This county set up China's first salamander research center in 1974 and established a nature reserve for the species in 1976.   

Prof. Cao affirmed Jing’an’s achievements in the reproduction and conservation work of giant salamander. “It is important to maintain the purity of salamander’s germplasm resources,” Cao said. “While developing fish resources in the mountainous regions, as well as in rivers and streams, we should also take conservative measures to minimize the harmful effects of development.”   

After the ceremony, the attendees visited the Jing’an Institute of Giant Salamander, the semi-basement salamander breeding area, and the salamanders stimulated ecological breeding area.   

Therefore, the establishment of the academician workstation will strengthen the cooperation between jing’an county and research institutes and universities, improve the research and industrial promotion of salamander breeding and conservation, development of spiny frog, and fish breeding in rivers and streams.