# An updated review of fish species reintroductions: global lessons to inform future riverine fish conservation in the UK

## TL;DR

This paper reviews global fish reintroduction efforts to guide future conservation in the UK, focusing on the burbot species.

## Contribution

The paper provides a global review of fish reintroductions and identifies lessons to improve future conservation strategies in the UK.

## Key findings

- There have been 324 fish reintroductions globally since 1989, mostly in North America.
- Common pitfalls include not addressing initial decline causes and poor habitat quality.
- A comprehensive monitoring strategy is crucial for successful reintroductions.

## Abstract

Reintroductions are potentially an effective conservation tool in freshwater conservation, including for fishes, where 37% are threatened in Europe alone (Tatár et al. (Tatár et al. in Oryx 514:718–729, 2017)). This review examines general and fish-specific species reintroductions to assess fish species reintroductions as a conservation tool, with a case study focus on the currently extirpated burbot Lota lota in the United Kingdom. Globally, there have been 324 published fish reintroductions since 1989, with a spatial bias to North America (n = 223). Common pitfalls identified for fish species reintroductions are not addressing the initial causes of decline, poor quality release habitat, and issues surrounding stocking, in relation to source population genetics. When considering the potential reintroduction of the burbot to the UK, many challenges remain including those that have been encountered in past projects for other fishes. For example, meeting policy requirements, designing and implementing a stocking strategy, and developing a comprehensive post-monitoring strategy are crucial to all future fish reintroduction attempts. Overall, a concerted effort is needed to disseminate species reintroduction project findings so that lessons, including recommendations and common pitfalls, can benefit future local conservation efforts.