It Is Not Only Data—Freshwater Invertebrates Misused in Biological Monitoring

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The article explains why using free-living invertebrates in biomonitoring aimed at assessing the ecological status of rivers, lakes, streams and ponds can be considered misuse. Invertebrates are excluded from ethical considerations in environmental procedures, resulting in the killing of many more individuals than necessary during such activities. Biomonitoring used as a routine method of environmental protection causes cruel deaths of up to millions of aquatic animals every year. Improperly planned procedures which result in excessive mortality have or may have a negative impact on the environment and biodiversity. The life of aquatic invertebrates, although they should be considered sensitive beings, is reduced to an informative function; they become only data useful for biomonitoring purposes. Some new methods, modifications and improvements of biomonitoring procedures that can significantly reduce freshwater invertebrate mortality are presented in the section “Future Directions”. Especially the development of effective, precise and reliable methods of survival, e.g., based on the analysis of DNA taken directly from the environment (eDNA), seems to be not only a breakthrough in biomonitoring, but also an important step towards a significant improvement in the welfare of aquatic invertebrates. ABSTRACT: The article presents and discusses the issues of the use of free-living invertebrates to assess the ecological status of freshwater environments with different methods of biological monitoring. Invertebrates are excluded from ethical consideration in the procedures of environmental protection, which results in the killing of many more individuals during sampling than necessary. Biomonitoring is used as a routine method for environmental protection that results in the cruel death of even millions of aquatic animals annually. In many cases, the mortality of animals used in such types of activities has been shown as excessive, e.g., because the vast majority die due to unnecessary subsampling procedures. Improperly planned and conducted procedures which result in excessive mortality have or may have a negative impact on the environment and biodiversity. Their existence as sensitive beings is reduced to an information function; they become only data useful for biomonitoring purposes. The main problem when trying to determine the mortality of invertebrates due to biomonitoring activities and its impact on natural populations seems to be the lack of access to raw data presenting how many animals were killed during sampling.