Blog

Fish have been in the newspapers a lot recently – and I don’t just mean drenched in vinegar and wrapped up with chips.

Unless you live in the Mariana Trench you will be aware of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s Fish Fight crusade to end the absurd practice of fishing vessels dumping bycatch and adding to the pressure on sea stocks. But it isn’t just the seas which are becoming a more hostile place for fish – there are also massive declines amongst freshwater species.

A study from the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) featured in the Sunday Telegraph at the weekend found that freshwater fish are the most endangered group of animals on earth, with more than a third threatened with extinction.

Some of the most spectacular global species under threat include the massive Mekong giant catfish and the equally impressive freshwater stingray family. But closer to home British species clinging to the edge include eels, the Shetland charr and the herring-like gwyniad which is found in just one Welsh lake.

In Celtic mythology salmon are wise creatures and anyone eating them takes on their wisdom. Unfortunately Celtic mythology seems to have got this one wrong – we’ve been feasting on the riches in our rivers and lakes for centuries and there’s nothing clever about the way we have treated these precious habitats. And sadly, declines in some British fish will only be helped with international co-operation.

Salmon, trout, eels and many other species of river fish have declined dramatically in UK waters in recent decades (and I haven’t even got on to avian, insect, mammal and plantlife along our riverbanks). The reasons are all too familiar – pollution, over abstraction, poorly planned development – but unless people are aware of these issues nothing will be done. And everyone interested in our rivers will share the loss – one more reason for all of us to push for a bold and sensible Water White Paper.

The Salmon of Wisdom doesn’t seem to be working – so it is heartening that the media and the wider public are finally starting to understand the depth of the problems facing our rivers.

Nik Shelton
RSPB