In the course of an environmental research and development project of the Federal Environment Ministry (BMUB), the Federal Environment Agency established in 2012 the "Fish Protection and Downstream Fish Migration" forum. During the five workshops organised by this forum, over 200 representatives from the government, fishery and environmental organisations, energy industry, engineering offices, and research institutions held a discussion about Fish Protection and Downstream Fish Migration. During this discussion, the interests and positions about the status of knowledge and technology, the need for action, and research on the subject of population protection were developed and illustrated.

In this final conference in Bonn, the main insights and key messages of the forum were presented. The responsible departments and the presenting disciplines provided an overview of the results of the forum, which will focus on the protection of fish, fish migration and population protection in the coming years. Together with the decision-makers and stakeholders, the specific recommendations of the forum were discussed, signaling the inception of future activities to protect fish and fish migration, as well as continuing discussions.