The conservation protection of aquatic life in the Yangtze River is facing a great challenge, and strengthening their protection is the national strategic demand of China. The Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis) is a flagship species of the Yangtze River, and the sole one for the fish rescue program of the Gezhouba Dam in the 1980s. After a great deal of scientific research and implementing conservation measures over the past four decades, the Chinese sturgeon population has been on the verge of extinction. If lessons of Chinese sturgeon protection could not be well learned, the protection of aquatic life in the Yangtze River will be difficult to get out of the current predicament. This paper reviews the history of scientific research and protection of Chinese sturgeon since implementation of the fish rescue program. It shows that dodging or overlooking the influence of Yangtze cascade dams will be unable to reveal the quantitative mechanism of the population decline, and is impossible to take targeted measures. Therefore, to avoid repeating the same mistakes that the protection of Chinese sturgeon has arisen in the past four decades, launching introspection, reform and innovation for the lessons of the Chinese sturgeon conservation is an urgent strategic issue of conserving the aquatic life in the Yangtze River.