A two-month fishing ban on south China's Pearl River took effect on April 1, in an effort to protect the area's fish stocks.

All fishing activities are banned during the period on the main stream of the Pearl River, as well as on all tributaries and lakes connected to it, the Fishery Bureau of the Ministry of Agriculture said on March 27.

The Pearl River is the second largest river in China in terms of run-off volume, exceeded only by the Yangtze River.

The fishing ban in the Pearl River was initiated by the Ministry of Agriculture in 2011. More than 29.05 million fish fry were released into the river during the previous ban and monitoring data showed that the average density of the fish fries in May 2011 had grown by 23.2 percent from the year earlier period.