An investigation on fish resources and fishery utilization of Lake Poyang, the latest freshwater lake in China, was carried out from winter 1997 to spring 2000. During the period of 1955-2000, the accumulated number of 136 species, belonging to 25 families and 78 genera, was recorded in Lake Poyang. The largest of families was the Cyprinidae (71 species), contributing 52.2% to the total; the second was the Bagridae (12 species), accounting for 8.8%. During this investigation, 101 species were recorded, and 6 new records were found, which were Squalidus nitens (Gtinther), Microphysogobio tungtingensis(Nichols), Saurogobio gymnocheilus Lo, Yao et Chen, Acheilognaihus barbatulus Gtinther, Rhodeusfangi(Miao), Mugilogobius myxodermus(Herre). Moreover, fish composition in catch from several important fishing gears and the dynamic change in fish yield were analyzed, and some suggestions on the sustainable fisheries development were proposed.