Inland fisheries are being overlooked by those shepherding the planet’s natural resources, according to new research.
The authors of the report, published in Nature Sustainability, say managing freshwater systems to protect inland fish and fisheries will produce substantial co-benefits to people and meeting the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
One of the authors, Dr Sui Phang, research fellow at the University of Portsmouth in the UK, said: “Inland fisheries are frequently undervalued or ignored compared with other sectors, such as agriculture, drinking water, power, sanitation, transportation and marine fisheries. They have become the Cinderella of the natural world."
The report outlines the food, economic and environmental benefits of inland fisheries, noting they have key importance in Asia and Africa.
Dr Phang pointed out that the regions of the world that depend on inland fisheries are also the areas undergoing rapid economic development, so the value of inland fisheries in global sustainability efforts needs to be recognised in development discussions and policies with a new, holistic approach to freshwater development.
The researchers looked at the relationships between inland fish, sustainable fisheries and functioning freshwater systems to support their argument that inland fisheries contribute to the UN SDGs.
Speaking about inland fishery services, Dr Phang warned: “By not recognising and valuing the immense benefits of a large unsung resource, we also risk storing up problems later, such as costs of subsidies to replace them if they’re lost.
