May 21, 2024 This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlightedthe following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: fact-checked trusted source proofread by Amy Fallah, WWF Populations of migratory freshwater fish species—including salmon, trout, eel, and sturgeon—continue to decline across the globe. This decline risks the food security and livelihoods of millions of people, the survival of countless other species, and the health and resilience of rivers, lakes and wetlands.
This news is supported by a global study published today by the World Fish Migration Foundation, ZSL, IUCN, The Nature Conservancy (TNC), Wetlands International and WWF. Published ahead of World Fish Migration Day on May 25, the new Living Planet Index (LPI) report on freshwater migratory fishes reveals a staggering 81% collapse in monitored population sizes on average between 1970 to 2020, including catastrophic declines of 91% in Latin America and the Caribbean and 75% in Europe. Habitat loss and degradation—including fragmentation of rivers by dams and other barriers and conversion of wetlands for agriculture—account for half of the threats to migratory fishes, followed by over-exploitation.
Increasing pollution and the worsening impacts of climate change are also fueling the fall in freshwater migratory fish species, which have now been declining consistently for 30 years. "The catastrophic decline in migratory fish .