UN report raises alarm over status of migratory freshwater fish, including three species found in Spain
Worldwide, 349 species of migratory freshwater fish are at risk and meet the criteria for inclusion in the Appendices of the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), a global treaty designed to protect migratory animals. These fish are among the vertebrates most threatened by factors such as changes in river flow, habitat degradation, exploitation and pollution, the report warns. Among the priority species are 50 species from Europe, including the following freshwater fish from Spain: Alosa alosa (shad), Lampetra planeri (brook lamprey) and Salmo salar (Atlantic salmon).
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Graciela Gómez Nicola
Full Professor of the Department of Biodiversity, Ecology and Evolution at the Complutense University of Madrid
Advances in scientific knowledge paint an alarming picture: migratory freshwater fish, such as salmon, eels and shad, are facing global collapse. On their epic journey between the ocean and the river to feed or spawn, these species encounter thousands of obstacles: dams, reservoirs, overfishing or habitat degradation that blocks their path and disrupts their life cycle. It is a silent biodiversity crisis, far more serious than society realises, which has already led the international community to demand urgent measures to protect 325 species whose disappearance seriously threatens the health of our local ecosystems and the food security of many communities that have historically depended on these migrations.
The solution cannot be local, as migratory fish know no borders; there is no point in protecting a stretch of river if the neighbouring country does not do the same. To save these species, public policies must be unified under a common roadmap and genuine international cooperation that restores freedom of movement to our river basins. This is an urgent cry for help: without coordination between states, the days of our migratory fish are numbered.
Hogen, Z. et al. The Secretariat of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS).
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