Im Fluss – painting by Alex Zürcher

So close and yet so strange: most people only know our fish from photos – or cooked on a plate. Anyone who has had the chance to contemplate fish underwater, is fascinated by their elegance and colourful splendour. This is also what happened to Bernese painter and passionate fisherman Alex Zürcher. For decades, he has been documenting the diversity of underwater life on canvas. Zürcher takes us into the local rivers and lakes. And he introduces us to the mysterious finned creatures; the majestic pike, for example, the nimble brown trout or the mystical tench.

After the last ice age, our Alps became a paradise for fish. Glacial water feeds countless lakes, streams and rivers, which flow into four different seas via the large river systems. Trout, pike, barbel, catfish, zander, burbot, eel, grayling, bitterling, loach, nase, dace, bog goby, agnetta, agone, bullhead, sunbleak... There are around 130 species of fish in this country – most of which only experts know the names of.

But Switzerland is no longer a fish paradise: half of the species are endangered or already extinct. 60 per cent of native fish species are on the Red List. The main reason for this is the condition of the waters.

That is why the Swiss Fish Centre Foundation wants to make fish and many other aquatic creatures visible in the new centre – and provide a fascinating insight into the otherwise hidden underwater world and into fishing. The adventure, education and research centre is planned on a 5000 square metre site directly on lake Moossee. The Swiss Fish Centre, the equivalent of the Swiss Ornithological Institute for the underwater world, will be built over the next few years.

The painter Alex Zürcher is supporting the construction of the Swiss Fish Centre. The proceeds from the sale of his watercolor and acrylic paintings will go entirely to the project.