Thus, the nature reserves in the tributaries will represent new spawning
grounds after the construction of planned hydroelectric station on the main stream of the Yangtze River (Cao, 2008).
Additionally, hatchery release is one of the major techniques for fish stock enhancement, and has been applied successfully in
the conservation of threatened species and the restoration of some commercial species (Primavera et al., 2006). However,
hatchery release may have adverse effects on the gene pools of wild populations (Bert et al., 2001), which may result in
reduced offspring fitness and a decreased effective population size of wild populations (Cross,1999). Therefore, investigations
of the impacts of stocking practices on the genetic structure of the targeted populations, and an evaluation of the efficiency of
hatchery release for their conservation, are imperative. According to our research, the levels of genetic diversity in WL andMD
populations are higher than that in other populations, and the lowest levelwas in the HJ population. Declining wild resources,
potential threats to the genetic quality of the HJ population, and the high quality of heredity in populations from the WL and
MD locations suggested that parental fish for artificial propagation should be collected preferentially from the WL and MD
populations to ensure conservation of wild resources and genetic diversity. In addition, the first filial generation should not be