Freshwater fish reserves

Scientist Aaron Koning and colleagues have just published the results of their fisheries study on the Salween River. The study, of 23 community ‘no take’ zones on the Salween shows that such reserves successfully increased the richness, density and biomass of fish populations—many times over.

The study also highlighted the importance of such reserves in connecting fish populations within river systems.  

Freshwater ecosystems are under-represented among the world’s protected areas. The study findings suggest that networks of small, community-based reserves can effectively protect biodiversity, at a time when the world’s rivers face greater pressures than ever before.

Read more about the study published in Nature here.