MORE than a hundred species of fish should be added to the list of the
world鈥檚 most threatened species, a panel of 32 biologists recommended last week.
Fifteen of these species are 鈥渃ritically endangered鈥� and face imminent
extinction unless something is done to protect them, said the panel.
At a workshop at the Zoological Society of London, the biologists examined
the status of 152 fish species and classified 131 as threatened. They say that
these should be added to the Red List of threatened animals, which is due to be
published at the World Conservation Congress in Montreal in October.
鈥淔ish are badly represented on the Red List,鈥� says Michael Sutton, director
of the endangered seas campaign at the World Wide Fund for Nature, which
sponsored the workshop. 鈥淭here is a mistaken impression that fish are less
threatened because their habitat covers 70 per cent of the Earth鈥檚 surface.鈥�
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The threats to fish are many and varied. For example the caviar trade has put
26 of the world鈥檚 27 sturgeon species at risk, while the great white shark is
threatened by overfishing鈥攊ts fins are an ingredient in shark鈥檚 fin
soup.