Day 21

Raise 1 young salmon and release it into the Rhine

A daycare place for endangered fish A daycare place for endangered fish

Raise 1 young salmon and release it into the Rhine
Day 21
Preparing small salmon and trout for freedom

How do fish get from the open sea to our rivers? It's unimaginable, but salmon and other migratory fish manage it. With a strong will, they swim over 1,000 km. The salmon lay their eggs on the gravel bottom of small rivers. When the young salmon are about 15 cm long, they migrate down to the sea, for example through the Rhine. Their route takes them across the North Sea to the North Atlantic off Iceland. There they eat lots of crabs and small fish. The salmon can grow up to 1.50 meters long. As adults, they return to their home rivers. By laying their eggs, they complete the circle of life. In addition to salmon, the Rhine is also home to sea trout, shad, eel, sturgeon and six other migratory fish species. The eel is an oddity because it lays its eggs in the Atlantic. These fish therefore undertake very long migrations like migratory birds or large mammals.

Preparing small salmon and trout for freedom
Preparing small salmon and trout for freedom
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 the straightening and damming of rivers, water pollution and climate change, many migratory fish are currently at great risk (Deinet, S. et al., 2020). The increasing warming of waters is particularly restricting cold-loving species such as salmon and trout (IGB 2024). These fish species cannot survive in warmer waters, which is why their habitat is shrinking. The populations of migratory fish therefore need help: obstacles to migration such as weirs must be removed. The flowing waters must be restored to their natural state, at least in sections, because free-flowing, dynamic waters are needed to protect biodiversity instead of paved canals. Wastewater treatment must be further improved so that fish are not harmed by residual pollution. In particular, the populations of particularly threatened migratory fish should be supported quickly.

Therefore, the NRW Watercourse Foundation raises young salmon and trout every year to save these wild fish. This is accompanied by success checks and activities for water protection in the NRW Migratory Fish Program (LANUV 2019). The preservation of migratory fish stands for successful environmental protection from the river to the ocean. With the young salmon and trout, nature "on our doorstep" can also be experienced up close. The Watercourse Foundation offers water workshops for schools and youth groups. In the Migratory Fish Knowledge Center in Siegburg, visitors can discover a lot about the life of migratory fish (MUNV 2021).

53721 Siegburg, Germany
Day 21 Day 21 Day 21 Day 21
The good deed

With your donation, the young salmon and trout are raised for their journey into the wild. In the Rhein-Sieg wild salmon center, the experts from the Wasserlauf-Stiftung hatch the eggs and feed the young fish for several months. When they are around 3 to 6 cm long, they are released into Rhine tributaries such as the Sieg and the streams that flow into them. 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 originally found in Germany have become extinct. The work process includes fertilizing the eggs in the hatchery (in autumn), caring for the eggs by humans throughout the winter and further rearing until the fish are released in spring to early summer.

All this happens thanks to your donation until the young fish are finally released into the wild!

About Germany
Berlin
Berlin
Capital city
84,482,267
84,482,267
population
as of 2023
52,745.8
52,745.8
Gross domestic product per capita per year in USD
as of 2023
0.950
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.