Nieuwe visatlas van Nederland

New Fish Atlas of the Netherlands The new Fish Atlas of the Netherlands will be published in January 2022. The database used consists of four million observations covering an area of 26,000 sq. km. Its 300 pages makes this new edition twice as thick as the previous one. The number of species has increased from 56 to 80, mainly due to the arrival of exotic species. The water quality has improved significantly since the 1980s and work is being carried out to restore aquatic habitats. Trend analyses over the period 1990-2019 show that approx 15% of native species increased in number, 40% remained stable and 20% decreased. In comparison with the period around 1970, the present fish population has improved. Compared to the situation around 1900 there is less reason for optimism. Over 30% of the species, including many migratory fish, were much more common then. Since 1900, the number of locks, pumping stations and dams has increased enormously. The Fish Atlas of the Netherlands demonstrates that further recovery of the fish community requires the restoration of connectivity between waters, land-water transitions and estuarine dynamics (fresh-salt transitions Nederland is een van de waterrijkste landen van Europa. Rivieren die hun weg naar zee vinden, de hier op uitmondende riviertjes en beken, plassen en meren verbonden door een netwerk van waterlopen, duizenden kilometers aan sloten, grote kanalen en stadswateren. In de nieuwe visatlas die in maart 2022 verschijnt valt te lezen waar de verschillende vissoorten voorkomen, hoe ze leven en wat de ontwikkelingen zijn. In dit artikel beschrijven we de inhoud van de atlas en geven een aantal uitkomsten over hoe het met de vissen in Nederland gesteld is.