Nutritional, ecological and economical importance of Amazon Fish: old challenges and new perspectives

Amazon is the largest tropical forest in the world, which covers most of the river basin of the same name, with more than half of both being within Brazilian territory. The Amazon river basin transports the largest water volume of any river system in the world. Its fauna and floral diversity matches its size, having the biggest collection of living animals and plants in the world. The high diversity applies to fish species, however, despite its high number, there is still a lack of knowledge surrounding the diversity and their geographical distribution. This extends to knowledge about the fish species that are a part of the daily nutrition of riverine and indigenous populations, as well as the impacts of deforestation and of dam constructions in this diversity. This study explores the importance of diverse fish species for the Amazonian ecology and economy, the limitations within the fishing sector and the possible health risks that come with it, its role in food security for vulnerable populations and new perspectives for dealing with decade’s old challenges.