Pressures on global freshwater fish populations:

Conservation groups including World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and Global Wildlife Conservation, point to a combination of pressures on global freshwater fish populations, including:

• Habitat degradation
• Poorly planned dams
• Releasing wastewater and draining wetlands
• Overfishing
• Pollution
• Introduction of invasive species
• Wildlife crime
• Climate change

Key highlights of report:

• The population of migratory freshwater fish fell 76 per cent since 1970; that of mega-fish by 94 per cent, according to the report. 
• Much of this decline was driven by the poor state of freshwater habitats in parts of the United Kingdom.
• 80 freshwater species have already been declared extinct. Of these, as many as 16 freshwater fish species were declared extinct in 2020 alone.
• Of more than 10,000 species whose conservation status has been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, 30 per cent are considered at risk of extinction.

Need for:

WWF has called on all governments to back the implementation of a global Emergency Recovery Plan for freshwater biodiversity. 

• This would involve reducing pollution, allowing rivers to flow more naturally, controlling invasive species and ending overfishing, removing obsolete dams and unsustainable sand mining.
• But the solution will require more than just government action. Implementing the new biodiversity agenda also needs to move beyond the realm of conservation.

Source: Down to Earth