DISCUSSION
Nondestructive technical monitoring and investigations are gaining increasing attention (Weigand et al., 2019; Tsuji et al., 2020). This is especially important in watersheds with a high concentration of rare fish species (Chen et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2020), where disturbance and damage to fish communities must be considered (Su et al., 2021), and high costs may be incurred (Zhang et al., 2022). The Chishui River Basin has implemented a 10-year fishing ban that has been in place for four years (Yu et al., 2022). Although fish diversity monitoring studies in the basin have continued (Liu et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2020; Liu et al., 2021; Yu et al., 2022), traditional survey methods have been used (Liu et al., 2021), and the impact of human activities on fish after the ban has not been assessed (Yu et al., 2022). Because fish diversity data are only available through a single method, fish conservation efforts in the Chishui River Basin may be limited. To address this issue, we utilized the eDNA method to investigate the fish diversity in the Chishui River Basin. Our findings were consistent with traditional survey methods, and we demonstrated that human activities in the basin have a lower impact on fish. This study highlights the potential benefits of using nondestructive monitoring methods for fish conservation and biodiversity surveys, particularly in areas with rare fish species and high levels of human activity.