A recent global assessment, released by 16 conservation organizations, of the world’s freshwater fish species found that nearly a third are at risk of extinction. Overfishing and climate change are the most significant and pervasive drivers of the global decline in freshwater biodiversity, but the blockages created by dams and the introduction of non-native species have also played significant roles.
The news is distressing, yet CalTrout sees this as a call to action. Our organization works diligently to ensure resilient wild fish thrive in healthy waters. Through our research on freshwater fish, we found that improving salmonid status requires: 1- protecting and restoring the places that matter most, and 2- promoting strategies that will increase salmonid diversity and resiliency.
We have an opportunity to reverse this trajectory toward extinction, but the findings underscore that we must act now. We must take bold, scientifically informed, and innovative actions to improve resilience of our native salmon, steelhead, and trout and the waters upon which we all depend. Read more on our work to save fish from extinction from our SOS II Report: Recommended Actions.
The title of the previously mentioned assessment is The World’s Forgotten Fishes, released by 16 conservation organizations including World Wildlife Fund, Conservation International, IUCN: International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Nature Conservancy, among others.
