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World Fish Migration Day


World Fish Migration Day (WFMD) is celebrated to raise global attention to the need for restored river connections for migrating fish to achieve healthier fish stocks and more productive rivers. The next World Fish Migration Day will be on April 21, 2018.

The concept of a day to celebrate fish migration was shown to be a success within the North Sea Region on May 14, 2011. In 2011, partners of the Living North Sea Project, funded by the European Union, participated to raise awareness about fish passage issues in the North Sea Region, including 25 locations in 7 countries. The day created publicity in both regional and national press, including social media, magazines, radio and tv stations (From Sea to Source). After the success in 2011, a Dutch conservationist Herman Wanningen from the World Fish Migration Foundation, reached out to various organizations worldwide, including The Nature Conservancy, WWF, FFSG- ICUNInternational Union for Conservation of Nature to create a global celebratory day, which is today known as the World Fish Migration Day. In 2014 the first ever WFMD took place and is now planned for every second year in May, under the coordination of the World Fish Migration Platform. The next WFMD will be held on 21 May 2016.

On the occasion of World Fish Migration Day May 24, 2014, Sharon Dijksma, the State Secretary of Economic Affairs in The Netherlands sent out message endorsing the WFMD.

Zeb Hogan from Nation Geographics’ Monster Fish television program, sent out a message during the 5th annual Fish Passage conference in June 2015, encouraging people to take part in this event. Other celebrities who have encouraged World Fish Migration Day Celebrations include:

WFMD is a one-day event to create worldwide awareness of the importance of freshwater migratory fish and open rivers for the general public, especially students and their teachers, resource managers and engineers, and commercial and recreational anglers, as well as those individuals who influence public policy that affect rivers. It is a global initiative with activities organized to reach these audiences.

Around the world, coordination and promotion is done through local activities supported and coordinated by a central office of the World Fish Migration Platform. The website is being developed and ambassadors are arising for national and continental satellite offices. At the individual event level, organizations undertake the development of an activity to raise awareness and involve local people and media about fish migration and open rivers. Local events include a range of activities: field trips, events at a school or aquaria, the opening of a fishways, races, food festivals, etc. At this local level, the logo and central message of the WFMD, connecting fish, rivers and people, is used to connect sites around the world. The day starts in New Zealand and will follows the sun around the world, ending in Hawaii.


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