Endangerment of Aquatic Genetic Resources
According to the principle of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) many marine fish species are overexploited by coastal and deep sea fisheries. Marine pollution and the introduction of harmful substances constitute other major causes of endangerment. It cannot presently be said with any certainty whether global warming will contribute to the loss of biological diversity.
Inland waters are sensitive ecosystems. In particular, migration barriers, structural demotion of water bodies, but also nutrient contamination and the spread of alien species affect the biological diversity of fish fauna. Especially migratory fish species and fish species adapted to the specific conditions of flood plains, are among the most endangered freshwater fish species. However, due to the general improvement of water quality of inland waters and other efforts in the field of water protection there have been positive population changes in some fish species.
Due to lack of data, the loss of genetic diversity in aquaculture is hard to estimate.