World s forgotten fishes vital for hundreds of millions of people but one-third face extinction, warns new report panda.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from panda.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
They have fed us for millennia and are critical for the food and nutrition security, livelihoods and cultures of hundreds of millions of people across the globe. But today, nearly a third of freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction.
One in three species of freshwater fish could become EXTINC, experts warn dailymail.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from dailymail.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Freshwater fish make up 51% of all fish species and ¼ of all vertebrate species on Earth
Nearly 1/3 of freshwater fish species are threatened with extinction;
76% decline in migratory freshwater fish since 1970;
94% decline in mega-fish (heavier than 30kg) such as Danube sturgeon since 1970;
Freshwater fisheries provide food for 200 million people and livelihoods for 60 million; and
Fisheries valued at over US$38 billion, while recreational fishing generates US$100 billion.
There are18,075 freshwater fish species, accounting for over half of the entire world’s fish species and a quarter of all vertebrate species on Earth. This wealth of species is essential to the health of the world’s rivers, lakes and wetlands – and supports societies and economies across the globe. But freshwater fish continue to be undervalued and overlooked – and thousands of species are now heading towards extinction. Freshwater biodiversity is declining at twice the rate of that in our oceans or