"Biodiversity loss in freshwater is a global crisis that is literally hidden beneath the water surface," stated Professor Sonja Jähnig of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and Humboldt University in Berlin. The fr
New science about the fate of freshwater ecosystems released today by the journal
Sustainability finds that only 17 percent of rivers globally are both free-flowing and within protected areas, leaving many of these highly-threatened systems¬ and the species that rely on them at risk. Populations of freshwater species have already declined by 84 percent on average since 1970, with degradation of rivers a leading cause of this decline. As a critical food source for hundreds of millions of people, we need to reverse this trend, said Ian Harrison, freshwater specialist at Conservation International, adjunct professor at Northern Arizona University and co-editor of the journal issue.
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The report, titled “The World’s Forgotten Fishes,” outlined the disastrous effects that the loss of freshwater fish could have on the planet. Freshwater fish are essential to the health of rivers, lakes and wetlands. Freshwater fish also support economies worldwide and serve as an important source of food for 200 million people.
Unfortunately, the report revealed that 16 of the 80 extinct freshwater fish species to date disappeared last year alone. According to the report, various factors contributed to this outcome and the ongoing decline of fish, including the building of dams, the siphoning of rivers for irrigation and the release of wastewater.