InFish is a professional network to raise the profile of inland fish to inform policy, advance conservation, and promote sustainable fisheries.
Please join us!
Recent relevant news/ publications
- Illuminating Hidden Harvests (FAO, Duke University, WorldFish 2023)
- Patterns, drivers, and a predictive model of dam removal cost in the United States (Duda et al. 2023)
- Freshwater Systems Produce Or Influence More Than Half Of Fish Consumed Globally (Part 1) and (Part 2) (Opperman 2023)
- SHOAL August newsletter
- Protecting and restoring habitats to benefit freshwater biodiversity (Piczak et al. 2023)
- Cross-continental evaluation of landscape-scale drivers and their impacts to fluvial fishes: Understanding frequency and severity to improve fish conservation in Europe and the United States (Üblacker et al. 2023)
- OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND AND UNDERWATER: The race to discover and save our planet’s forgotten fish (WWF-Asia Pacific)
- World Heritage, Hydropower, and Earth’s Largest Freshwater Fish (Lee et al. 2023)
- People need freshwater biodiversity: Nine reasons freshwater biodiversity is important for humans
- Chasing Giants: In Search of the World's Largest Freshwater Fish (Hogan and Lovgren 2023)
- People need freshwater biodiversity (Lynch et al. 2023)
- Putting the fish into inland fisheries – A global allocation of historic inland fish catch (Ainsworth et al. 2023)
Job / funding / award opportunities
- World Fisheries Congress travel funding
- WFC International Travel Awards. Priority will be given to individuals in early career stages and to applicants requiring only partial support. Apply here by 15 October 2023. Awardees will be notified by 1 November 2023.
- Bern Megrey Travel Awards. Priority will be given to early-career professionals conducting research on marine fisheries or marine fisheries management, and those requiring only partial support (e.g., airfare, registration, lodging, or per diem). Apply here by 1 October 2023.
- University of Washington – Postdoctoral scholar in freshwater ecology. See attached for more details and contact Julian Olden (olden-at-uw.edu) for more information. Screening of applications is ongoing and will continue until a suitable candidate is found.
- Michigan State University – M.S. assistantship on climate change impacts and adaptation in the Great Lakes. Starting date Fall 2023 or Spring 2024. Contact Mark Axelrod (axelrod3-at-msu.edu) for more information.
- Iowa State University – PhD opportunity on invasive carp and native large river fish acoustic telemetry. Contact Michael Weber (mjw-at-iastate.edu) for more information.
- EPA Fellowship – Evaluating Stream and River Habitat Quality at Regional to Continental Scales. Contact Joe Ebersole (Ebersole.joe-at-epa.gov) for more information.
- Shedd Aquarium – Manager, Center for Species Survival. Working closely with IUCN SSC and other stakeholders, this new position will play a key role in implementing the IUCN Assess-Plan-Act model for freshwater biodiversity in Central America. Position open until filled.
- Charles Sturt University Next Generation Water Engineering and River Management Hub Scholarships for PhD students. Expressions of interest will remain open until candidates for the three projects have been selected. See here for more information.
Inland Fisheries
Freshwater fish provide food, livelihoods, and ecosystem services to millions of people, especially in low-income countries, yet their value is generally not adequately considered in water use, energy, and development decisions. Freshwater fisheries around the world may appear to be very different, but their value to local communities and the threats to their sustainability are often similar.
The challenges to inland fisheries are also critical to the 60 million people who rely on freshwater fish for livelihoods – over half of whom are women. Fish is also an essential source of protein and other nutrients that cannot easily be replaced with other food sources.
InFish & SDG 1
The contribution of inland fisheries to resilient livelihoods, those which are buffered against difficult situations, is multifaceted and difficult to evaluate. Inland fisheries in Low-Income Food-Deficit countries are often part of a diversified livelihood strategy, exacerbating the tendency for them to be overlooked and undervalued. The challenge is in available data to highlight this role.
Grand Challenges
Even with long-standing management and extensive science support, North American inland fish and fisheries still face many conservation and management challenges. Addressing these grand challenges will promote open forums for engagement of diverse stakeholders in fisheries management, and better integrate the inland fish sector into the greater water and land use policy process.
Importance of InFish
Though reported capture fisheries are dominated by marine production, inland fish and fisheries make substantial contributions to meeting the challenges faced by individuals, society, and the environment in a changing global landscape. Inland capture fisheries and aquaculture contribute over 40% to the world’s reported finfish production from less than 0.01% of the total volume of water on earth.