Habitat breakdown through pollution and changes made to the flow of rivers and lakes, together with overexploitation and mining are just some of the threats facing freshwater species.
Freshwater fish are hugely important to the food security and livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people across the world. Rivers, lakes and floodplains support even more fishers, processors and traders than the ocean. And small-scale fisheries are also often culturally important to communities that depend on them.
This is a vital resource for more than 270 local communities and several cities in the region – providing for economic activities ranging from cattle ranching to tourism. Elizete Garciada Costa Soares is a member of one local community who fishes for tiny crabs and bait fish called tuvira in the Paraguay River for days at a time. “Life here for us is very fulfilling,” says Elizete. “We have fish to eat; we have bait to sell to make money for other necessities. Even if we don’t have money for meat, we can go out on the river to fish and bring back a piranha to eat with manioc flour. Here, we never go hungry.”
This activity is valued in the United States alone at US$43 billion a year. Dam removal could further increase this revenue, as free-flowing rivers encourage the return of migratory fish such as salmon and trout. However, other threats such as mining and overfishing must also be addressed.
Their natural dams encourage richly diverse wetlands, as well as help to reduce the impact of floodwaters on communities living downstream. They are one of few freshwater mammals whose numbers are increasing – for example, after being extinct in the UK for 400 years, they have recently been reintroduced there.