• Question: i heard in some countries the fish populations are in danger because of inported fish is there any danger of this happening in the UK

    Asked by stanley to Zara on 15 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Zara Gladman

      Zara Gladman answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      HI Stanley!

      Yup, you heard correctly!! Unfortunately, it already is happening in the UK 🙁 In Loch Lomond for example, there is a very rare species of fish called the ‘powan’, which looks like this:

      In the 1970s, a type of fish called ‘ruffe’ was introduced to Loch Lomond. Ruffe are not native to Scotland and they invaded the loch very quickly. Unfortunately, the ruffe fed on powan eggs and also competed with the powan for food. As a result, the numbers of powan decreased dramatically and it became very endangered. A lot of money is now being spent to try and save the powan from extinction.

      There are MANY other examples of imported fish endangering our native fish populations. It’s really important that people understand how dangerous non native species are, so I’m glad that you know about this! Spread the word!! 🙂

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