Phnom Penh Post —
Sixteen global conservation organisations around the world have found that one in three of the world’s least-regarded freshwater fishes are threatened with extinction.
And while many of Cambodia’s freshwater fish are banned for expert, they still end up being trafficked to other countries.
The findings were presented by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) in Cambodia on March 4 in the report “World’s Forgotten Fishes”.
This report details the extraordinary variety of freshwater fish species, with the latest discoveries taking the total to 18,075 – accounting for over half of all the world’s fish species and a quarter of all vertebrate species on Earth.
The organisations stressed that the world’s freshwater fishes are important for the health, food security and livelihoods of millions of people. But these fishes have been increasingly threatened.
“Freshwater fisheries provide the main source of protein for 200 million people across Asia, Africa and South America, as well as jobs and livelihoods for 60 million people,” the reported stated.