Day 21

Rearing of a juvenile salmon and releasing it into the Rhine

A daycare place for endangered fish

Preparing small salmon and trout for freedom

How do fish from the open sea make their way into our rivers? It seems unimaginable, but salmon and other migratory fish manage to do so. With remarkable determination, they swim over 1,000 kilometers. On the gravel beds of small rivers, salmon lay their eggs. When the young salmon reach a size of about 15 cm, they begin their journey downstream to the sea, for example, through the Rhine. Their path takes them through the North Sea to the North Atlantic near Iceland. There, they find plenty of crabs and small fish as food. This allows the salmon to grow up to 1.5 meters long. As adults, they return to their home rivers, completing the cycle of life by laying their eggs.

In addition to salmon, the Rhine is home to migratory fish like sea trout, allis shad, eel, sturgeon, and six other species. The eel is a unique case, as it lays its eggs in the Atlantic. These fish undertake vast migrations, much like migratory birds or large mammals.

Preparing small salmon and trout for freedom

Uli Beyer, Präsident des Fischereiverbands NRW, stellt dir das Projekt im Video vor

need

Raising salmon and trout to safeguard stocks

activity

The non-profit Wasserlauf-Stiftung provides the eggs and raises the young fish in the Rhein-Sieg wild salmon centre for several months

Measurable performance

The number of young salmon and trout measuring 3 to 6 cm that can be released into the wild from May to July

Result

The release into the wild increases the number of adult fish and provides important support for fish stocks

Systemically relevant impact

The stocks of salmon and trout in the Rhine are recovering sustainably and remain stable

background

Due to river straightening, damming, water pollution, and climate change, many migratory fish are currently at great risk (Deinet, S. et al., 2020). Increasing water temperatures are particularly affecting cold-loving species like salmon and trout (IGB 2024). These fish species cannot survive in warmer waters, which is causing their habitats to shrink. The populations of migratory fish therefore need help: migration barriers, such as dams, must be removed. Rivers must be restored to a more natural state, at least in sections, because the protection of biodiversity requires free-flowing, dynamic waterways rather than embanked channels. Wastewater treatment must be further improved so that fish are not harmed by residual pollutants. Above all, the populations of especially threatened migratory fish should be supported quickly.

Therefore, the Wasserlauf Foundation NRW raises young salmon and trout every year to save these wild fish. This is accompanied by success monitoring and activities for water protection as part of the Migratory Fish Program NRW (LANUV 2019). The preservation of migratory fish represents successful environmental protection from the river to the ocean. With young salmon and trout, nature is experienced up close "right at our doorstep." The Wasserlauf Foundation also offers water-related workshops for schools and youth groups. Visitors can learn a lot about the lives of migratory fish at the Wissenshaus Wanderfische in Siegburg (MUNV 2021).

The good deed

With your donation, the young salmon and trout are raised for their journey to freedom. At the Wild Salmon Center Rhein-Sieg, the experts of the Wasserlauf Foundation hatch the eggs and feed the young fish for several months. Once they are about 3 to 6 cm in size, they are released into tributaries of the Rhine, such as the Sieg and its flowing streams. In this way, these endangered fish species are supported, and their population development is then monitored. The parent fish come from regionally suitable sources, as the salmon that originally occurred in Germany have become extinct. The process includes the fertilization of the eggs in the hatchery (in the autumn), the care of the eggs throughout the winter, and further rearing until the fish are released in the spring to early summer. All of this happens thanks to your donation, until the young fish are finally released into the wild!

About Germany

Berlin

Capital city

84,482,267

population

as of 2023

52,745.8

Gross domestic product per capita per year in USD

as of 2023

0.950

Human Development Index (Human Development Index)

as of 2023/2024

In order to organize fishing in rivers, so-called fishing brotherhoods were founded in the Middle Ages. Until the 19th century, for example, every third fish caught on the Sieg had to be given to the church.

About the organization and further information