Our vision: Freshwater fishes sustained in their natural environments.
In August 2004 a new IUCN SSC/WI Freshwater Fish Specialist Group was initiated to be managed jointly by IUCN/SSC and Wetlands International. Prof. Gordon Reid, Executive Director of Chester Zoo, UK was appointed as the Specialist Group Chair. The group's inaugural meeting was held in 2005 in Chester, UK. Amongst the participants were experts from various organisations and regions including South America, North America, Central America, Africa, South Asia, Oceania, Europe, and Southeast Asia. During this meeting, the group drew up its Mission as follows:
Mission
To achieve conservation and sustainable use of freshwater fishes and their habitats through:
- generating and disseminating sound scientific knowledge;
- creating widespread awareness of their values; and
- influencing decision-making processes at all levels.
At this early stage the management structure of the group and its priorities are still being finalised and membership has been limited to a small core group. Links and modes of interaction with the two other freshwater fish Specialist Groups (Salmon and Sturgeons) are to be discussed shortly.
The Chair is Gordon Mc Gregor Reid.
Programme Officer is Katalin Csatadi
2012 Annual Meeting of the IUCN-SSC/Wetlands International
Freshwater Fish Specialist Group
Global Challenges in Caring for and Conserving Freshwater Fishes
1st – 3rd May 2012, Chester, UK
For further information please download the leaflet from the right side of the website.
To register, submit your abstract or poster and book your accommodation, please follow this link: http://freshwaterfishsymposium5.eventbrite.com/
We are looking forward to welcoming you on the 1st May!
News (archive)
Fifty-five freshwater conservation biologists, research scientists, and specialists from zoos and aquariums, from 21 countries, met in Chester, UK in November for the 4th International Zoo and Aquarium Symposium ‘Global Freshwater Fishes: linking in situ and ex situ actions’. The meeting was hosted by Chester Zoo, the North of England Zoological Society and was held in conjunction with the 7th Annual Meeting of the IUCN Species Survival Commission / Wetlands International Freshwater Fish Specialist Group.
The meeting provided an unprecedented opportunity for this diverse mix of specialists to combine their skills to promote conservation of freshwater fishes in their habitats; and to advance projects at public aquaria that raise public awareness and financial support for conservation, and that support conservation through species breeding programmes. Specific projects will be identified for priority species in a number of regions globally, linking in situ actions (i.e. conservation actions within the natural habitat and range of the species) and ex situ actions (i.e. actions that occur outside the habitat and range, though conservation breeding, or other mechanisms to raise awareness for and promote conservation of the species).
Professor Gordon McGregor Reid, Chair of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group and Immediate Past President of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums stressed the important role that zoos and aquariums can play. “Each year, more than 700 million people visit zoos and aquariums worldwide – a bigger attendance than all football games! Because of this, zoos and aquariums give $350 million annually directly to field projects. What we need to know is how to take the most effective actions, in the most important areas.” The participants affirmed the important role of zoos and aquariums in supporting in situ conservation, as well as properly planned and informed ex situ programmes.
In his address to the meeting, Dr. Simon Stuart, Chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission, emphasized that “there is a significant and growing challenge ahead to conserve freshwater habitats and species, and it is important to consider all the options that are available to conservationists to prevent or reduce negative impacts.” Dr. Stuart attended the conference to present the results of the 10th Convention of Parties of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Nagoya in October, where the 185 countries that are signatories to the Convention agreed upon the targets for the conservation of the world’s biodiversity over the next 10 years. Greater protection for inland waters and sustainable management of inland fisheries are now, for the first time, specifically mentioned in a number of the CBD targets. This calls for a significantly increased investment in research, conservation planning, and management in inland waters.
An immediate action for the IUCN SSC/WIFreshwater Fish Specialist Group is supporting the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. The Freshwater Fish Specialist Group has an extremely valuable opportunity to contribute to this Convention, specifically through advising on fish-related criteria for recognizing Ramsar conservation sites.
All participants at the meeting highlighted the desperate need for conservation action for many species of freshwater fishes around the world. Results from the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM, presented by Dr. William Darwall, from IUCN’s Species Programme in Cambridge, UK, showed that the world’s freshwaters are among the most threatened of all habitats, and freshwater fishes are being severely impacted. He stated: “Nevertheless, we still lack basic data on the biological diversity of many freshwater habitats around the world, and the threats they face.” More action on assessing the risk of extinction to species, as defined through the criteria used in the IUCN Red List, is urgently needed.
More news: Two new species of freshwater fishes discovered in Vanua Levu now internationally recognized. Two new scientific papers have been published in the last several months highlighting the discovery of two new species of freshwater fishes unique to Fiji and only known from two river systems in Vanua Levu. Wetlands International –Oceania staff Aaron Jenkins and Kinikoto Mailautoka, made the new discoveries as part of surveys for the Ecosystem Based Management project over the last several years. For more information, clickhere.
2011 Fisheries Society of the British Isles Annual International Conference "Fish Diversity and Conservation: current state of knowledge" is taking place in Bournemouth, UK from 18th-21 July. The link to the conference website is: http://www.fsbi.org.uk/2011/home/ .