A review of conservation status of freshwater fish diversity in China

Abstract

China harbors a high species diversity of freshwater fishes not shared with any of its neighboring nations. Freshwater fish diversity in the country has been under severe threat from human activities over the past decades, thus conservation freshwater fishes and ecosystems is urgently needed. To accumulate baseline data for guiding protection actions, the third red list assessment of Chinese freshwater fishes was carried out. Among Chinese freshwater fishes assessed, there are 355 at‐risk species (22.3% of the total), including 69 ranked as Critically Endangered, 97 as Endangered, and 189 as Vulnerable. Two species are classified as Extinct and one as Regionally Extinct. China's threat level seems to be lower than the known average level found in the IUCN's global assessment of freshwater fishes, but this is an artifact of a high rate of species classified as Data Deficient. Conservation of freshwater fishes is presently facing a grim situation in China. Imperilment of Chinese freshwater fishes is primarily attributed to habitat loss and degradation arising from human perturbations, particularly river damming. Despite the adoption of protected areas setting up, captive breeding and release, and a fishing moratorium, conservation efforts for freshwater fishes are compromised by disproportional attention in China's biodiversity conservation, baseline data deficiency, insufficiently designed protection networks, and inefficient or inadequate implementation of conservation strategies. To achieve the objectives of Chinese freshwater fish conservation, it is proposed to conduct a national‐scale survey of fish diversity and reassess their at‐risk status, develop systematic conservation planning of freshwater fish diversity and ecosystems, prioritize strategies for protected areas development, perform genetic‐based captive breeding for releasing in concert with other protection actions, and implement flexible fishing moratorium strategies in different water bodies.

Conservation and Population Status of Freshwater Fishes from Kelekar River, South Sumatra, Indonesia

“…However, knowledge of the ecology and conservation status of freshwater fishes is lower than that of terrestrial groups due to a bias in conservation research towards charismatic species. The diversity of freshwater fish has been severely threatened by human activities in recent decades, making the conservation of freshwater fish and their ecosystems an urgent priority (Cao et al, 2023). The conservation of fish and their habitats has received very little attention compared to other vertebrates (Maitland, 1995).…”

Research advances in diversity and conservation science of freshwater fish in China

“…The third Red List assessment of Chinese freshwater fishes was conducted recently with the results published by Zhang and Cao (2021); the checklist was updated but with limited case studies and no recommendations for the conservation of freshwater fishes. Cao et al (2024) provided an overview of species diversity and their status based on the work of Zhang and Cao (2021), and they highlighted the challenges in attempts to conserve Chinese freshwater fishes using case studies and suggestions to improve the conservation of freshwater ecosystems, thereby fishes. Functional biodiversity and the impact of exotic species in local ecosystems have rarely been evaluated thoroughly in China at a riverine scale.…”

“…Lin et al (2024) conducted a case study using a schemed mechanistic model to reveal the impacts of exotic species on functional diversity in the Minjiang River, the largest river in southeastern China, and the study suggested that exotic species altered the endemic fish community significantly if they accounted for 2% of the total species in the ecosystem. About 1591 freshwater fish species were recorded in China up until the end of 2020, and about 20 new species have been described annually (Cao et al, 2024). However, both numbers must be an underestimate, especially for the rare endemic species in upstream areas of rivers that are the most remote.…”