Status of freshwater fish habitat science in Great Britain

Abstract

The general understanding of how habitats influence populations of freshwater fishes in Great Britain is reviewed briefly as a component of a Europe-wide comparison. Great Britain, an island of temperate climate in the north west of Europe comprising the countries England, Scotland and Wales, has diverse aquatic habitats but a relatively impoverished freshwater fish fauna. Recreational rod-and-line fisheries for certain salmonids and non-salmonids termed coarse fish are valuable components of the economies of the countries comprising Great Britain. In some cases, distribution and abundance of fish species and their population sizes are constrained by habitat degradation. There is a growing awareness of the multidimensional importance of habitat management to develop and maintain high quality fisheries. Current knowledge of fish habitat requirements is patchy; progress has been made on salmonids and some coarse fish species. Fish habitat science has an important role in integrated river catchment management, which is reflected in recent national and international legislation.

Reconciling traditional inland fisheries management and sustainability in industrialized countries, with emphasis on Europe

“…There are now many examples of successful habitat improvement activities in running waters (e.g. O'Grady and Duff 2000; Hughes et al . 2001; Jurvelius and Auvinen 2001; Souchon and Keith 2001).…”

“…There are now many examples of successful habitat improvement activities in running waters (e.g. O'Grady and Du¡ 2000;Hughes et al 2001;Jurvelius and Auvinen 2001;Souchon and Keith 2001). Much of these, however, target single-species stock recovery, especially for salmonids, although attention is now focusing on nonsalmonid ¢sh populations in lowland rivers (Hodgson and Eaton 2000).…”

Thermal refugia and the survival of species in changing environments: new evidence from a nationally extinct freshwater fish.

“…The freshwater fish fauna of Great Britain is generally considered to be comparatively young in geographical and evolutionarily terms (Hughes et al. ), with the widely accepted theory being that stenohaline fishes colonised from the Rhine basin following the last glacial maximum (see Wheeler ). However, species with current northerly distributions (>60°N) appear to have ecological and physiological traits that would have allowed them to persist in northern glacial refuges (Bhagwat & Willis ).…”