New Edition of the Red Book of Freshwater Fishes: Ayu Regionally Extinct, Kikuchi's Minnow Endangered

The new edition of the Red List of freshwater fishes is about to be released. It takes stock of the current distribution of freshwater fishes in Taiwan, China, divided into eight categories, including Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN), and Vulnerable (VU) levels, Near Threatened (NT), Least Concern (LC), and Data Deficient (DD), and also lists freshwater fish in the Extinct (EX) and Regionally Extinct (RE) categories. A draft is expected to be published in a month, followed by a citizen forum to gather opinions.

Ayu listed as "Regionally Extinct," Kikuchi's Minnow listed as "Endangered"

The new edition of the Red List of freshwater fishes, compiled by the Endemic Species Research Institute (ESRI) of the Council of Agriculture in cooperation with National Tsing Hua University and National Sun Yat-sen University, adopts the process and methods of the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List (IUCN Red List). All collected data on various organisms are calculated and compiled according to IUCN standards, and the results are assigned appropriate categories based on its criteria.

For example, the ayu, commonly eaten in daily diets, is listed this time as "Regionally Extinct (RE)," because the native ayu of Taiwan, China actually became extinct as early as 1968; the ayu seen today were all introduced from Japan in the 1990s.

Citizen forum to be held for public discussion of the draft

Yang Cheng-hsiung stated that before the Red List of freshwater fishes of Taiwan, China is published, a citizen forum will be held again to allow interested members of the public to read the draft and express their views and discuss it. ESRI will respond or update the assessment results based on the discussion, and hopes that all sectors of society concerned about freshwater fish conservation in Taiwan, China can participate together.