Motion 112

Freshwater habitats support half of all extant fish species on planet earth, yet they comprise just a small fraction of total global surface area. Historically, the important role of freshwaters in safeguarding global biodiversity has been overlooked, and key differences in how these systems should be managed are only now being recognised (Sayer et al. 2024). The impact of these historical shortcomings on freshwater biodiversity is now clear for the first time at a species level through comprehensive extinction risk assessment of global freshwaters, revealing that 78 species of freshwater fishes have already gone extinct, with 26% of extant species at risk of extinction (Sayer et al. 2024).

385 freshwater fishes assessed as threatened on the IUCN Red List include a recommendation for ex situ conservation, and many more would benefit from the assurances that ex situ populations provide. However, only a small portion of these species are currently being held in assurance populations, and of the relatively few ex-situ conservation populations that do exist, many result from ad-hoc or isolated conservation actions. Similarly, many existing ex-situ populations originate from unknown provenance or have not been managed genetically over time, resulting in uncertainties around their suitability for extinction risk mitigation. The lack of concerted, systematic effort to prioritize this group of at-risk species hinders collaborative ex-situ conservation impact and leads to duplication of efforts across all stakeholders.

Recent efforts have recognised the critical need for coordinated conservation action around freshwater fishes, including “The 1000 Species Blueprint” recently published by Shoal, a guiding document for freshwater fish conservation that includes 1,000 species recommended for conservation action based on extinction risk according to the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. Ex situ conservation, identified as one of several key strategies in Shoal’s Blueprint, is a proven method of conservation. However, the financial and technical requirements necessary to fully satisfy this ambitious set of conservation recommendations are largely unknown, and to date no evidence-based prioritization process has been undertaken to support the implementation successful ex situ conservation.

The recent focus on freshwaters has the potential to mobilize the global conservation community around freshwater fish conservation through partnership, standardized and complementary frameworks, and common objectives. Some synergies have already begun to develop, notably between the IUCN SSC Freshwater Fish Specialist Group, IUCN SSC Center's for Species Survival Partnership, and zoo associations (e.g., EAZA Freshwater Teleost Taxon Advisory Group).

This motion and its operative clauses identify the actions and actors necessary to succeed in building a scientifically robust and globally comprehensive ex situ strategy for freshwater fishes. In particular, it provides a roadmap of processes and applicable knowledge products across the Assess-Plan-Act Conservation Cycle to identify, prioritize, and implement feasible ex situ actions for freshwater fishes. It calls for practical approaches to address untapped partnerships between professional communities and hobbyist fishkeeping associations, and improves conservation resourcing by leveraging existing interests in freshwater conservation within the global zoo, aquarium, and botanic garden community.