Almost a third of world’s freshwater fish at risk of extinction
The reputation of the Scottish Government has been tarnished by the Alex Salmond affair
Nearly a third of fish which live in rivers and lakes around the world are threatened with extinction, a new report from conservation groups warns.
The UK is "no exception" when it comes to the threats facing freshwater fish species, wildlife charity WWF said, pointing to the extinction of burbot and sturgeon and declines in salmon and European eels.
WWF has urged the UK government to back an emergency recovery plan for freshwater wildlife as part of new global nature targets set to be negotiated this year.
The "world's forgotten fishes" report from 16 organisations including WWF, the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) highlights the diversity of freshwater species – and the risks they face.
The latest new discoveries mean there are now 18,075 known freshwater species, making up more than half of all the world's fish species and ranging from river sharks to 8mm long minnows in Indonesian peat swamps.
They provide the main source of protein for 200 million people across Asia, Africa and South America, jobs and livelihoods for 60 million, and sustain the multibillion-pound recreational fishing and aquarium pet industries.
But 30 per cent of the 10,336 freshwater fish whose conservation status has been assessed by the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species are at risk of extinction.
Populations of migratory freshwater fish have fallen by more than three quarters (76 per cent) since 1970, with declines of 94 per cent for "mega fish" weighing more than 30kg (66lb), while 80 species have been declared extinct, the report said.
In the UK, burbot and sturgeon are already extinct, while salmon has suffered significant declines since the 1960s and the European eel is critically endangered.
Much of the decline in the UK is driven by the poor state of habitats.
Worldwide, river, lake and wetland habitats are facing threats including habitat destruction, dams on freeflowing rivers, too much water being taken for agriculture, and household, agricultural and industrial pollution.
Amid the considerable sound and fury of the fallout from former First Minister Alex Salmond’s acquittal on sex-offence charges and the Scottish government’s botched handling of its investigation of complaints about him, one thing is clear. The reputation of the Scottish Government has been tarnished.
The First Minister faces serious questions about whether she has upheld the values that she regularly espouses, with extraordinary accusations by her predecessor that she misled parliament and breached the ministerial code.
This uncertainty over her actions and those of others within her inner circle has not been helped by a growing chorus of complaints that the Scottish Government has not been as forthcoming as it could have and should have been in its dealings with the Holyrood committee set up to investigate the whole affair.
But then her accuser Salmond’s remark – before he was cleared of the criminal charges – that while he was “no saint... I have not sexually harassed anyone and I certainly have not been engaged in criminality” hardly inspires confidence in his character.
When the Scottish Parliament was set up, it was supposed to be better than Westminster in many ways – to be less blatantly party political, less adversarial, and to abide by standards in keeping with a finer form of democracy. And, in many ways, it has risen to that challenge.
However, MSPS’ struggles to hold the government to account suggest a weakness that could be a significant one for the maintenance of good governance in Scotland, over and above Salmond’s claims.
In what was seen as a pre-emptive strike against Salmond, who is due to give evidence to the Holyrood committee tomorrow, the First Minster told STV News that he “appears to be making claims or suggestions there was some kind of conspiracy against him”. “I know what he is saying is not true but the burden of proof is on him. If he can’t provide that evidence he should stop making these claims about people because they’re not fair and deeply distressing,” she said.
And, normally, this is true. But, like any other, Scotland’s government must not only act in an honourable, open and honest way, it must be seen to do so and effective scrutiny of its actions is a key part of that process.