Sorry to add another spoonful of anxiety to an already overflowing barrel, but I can't help sharing this news 😕

In half a century, humanity has deprived rivers of 81% of migratory fish

According to a large-scale report by the UN Convention on Migratory Species, presented at the COP15 conference in Brazil, populations of freshwater migratory fish have declined by 81% since 1970. Almost all species protected by the convention are under threat of extinction

The report mentions 325 species of migratory freshwater fish that require international protection. The highest number of such species is recorded in Asia — 205, in Europe — 50, and in South America — 55. The priority river systems are the Amazon, Danube, Mekong, Nile, and Ganges-Brahmaputra

Factors contributing to extinction: dam construction, flow alteration, water pollution, overfishing, and climate change

Despite the enormous scale, the problem remains less discussed than the extinction of terrestrial animals

Experts emphasize that to preserve these species, rivers must be managed as unified ecosystems, not as fragmented national waterways. "Rivers know no borders — and neither do fish," noted Michelle Thieme, Vice President of the World Wildlife Fund. Among the specific recommendations of the report are the protection of migration corridors, transboundary monitoring, and coordinated fisheries management at the river basin level