Switzerland: Fishing association urgently calls for greater protection for Swiss fish

According to the Swiss Fishing Association, the state of fish stocks in Switzerland is worrying. Two-thirds of native species have already disappeared, are at risk of extinction, or are listed on the Red List. Cold-loving and migratory species are particularly affected. The National Council, as the second chamber, has now approved a motion by former Council of States member Céline Vara, thereby paving the way for an ‘action plan for fish’. This plan aims to show how endangered stocks can be better protected - for example, through river restoration or the creation of new protected areas. The Fisheries Association welcomes this step, but criticises the fact that the proposed reduction of PFAS failed to gain a majority in the current session of the National Council. In addition to pollutants, fish stocks are also threatened by rising water temperatures, pending ecological adjustments to hydroelectric power plants, invasive species, and fish-eating birds such as cormorants and goosanders. In June 2024, Fabio Regazzi (Council of States) therefore submitted a parliamentary initiative calling for the absolute protection status of the goosander to be relaxed - as is already the case for the cormorant. This demand has now been included by the National Council's Committee for the Environment, Spatial Planning and Energy as an amendment to the motion on the ‘Fish Action Plan’.