engleski

Croatian Danube Fisheries National Report

Particular about Danube fisheries in Croatia is that this part of the country was occupied recently (war years 1991 to 1998). Consequently, there was no organized fisheries and data collecting. The river Danube represents the eastern border of Croatia and is 188 km long. The catchment area nearby covers only 1872 km2. However, the Sava and the Drava, the greatest Croatian rivers, flow into the Danube. Therefore, the entire northern part of Croatia (about two thirds of the country) belongs to the Danube river basin. The rest of the rivers in Croatia are small and flow into the Adriatic sea. There were not any major modifications of the Danube basin, lately. The commercial river fisheries in Croatia is practically nonexistent. Only few people make their living by this activity. The best way to exploit the fresh-water fish populations is sport fishing by angling. The catch is small, numbered only in the hundreds of tons. The data presented in Table 1 apply to all of Croatia, but most of the catch is done with in the Danube river basin. The sudden drop in war years 1991 and 1992 is evident and so is the slow recovery after those years. Common carp (Cyprinus carpio) is the most caught species (143 t in 1996). It is followed by pike (Esox lucius), European catfish (Silurus glanis) and perch-pike (Stizostedion lucioperca), (30 t, 24 t and 12 t respectively). Fishery statistics not being accurate, these data can only serve as an approximation. Among the populations previously caught in bigger amounts from the Danube, the species from Acipenseridae family are considered extinct. These are Acipenser guldenstadti colchicus, A. nudiventris, A. stellatus, A. sturio and Huso huso. The connection of these fish species with the lower Danube has been reduced since the Đerdap dam was built. Before the war, the research and monitoring of fish populations, the quality of water and degrees of pollution differed in different parts of the country. The western parts of Croatia had been more intensively researched than the Danube river because the Danube was investigated by the institutions out of Croatia, in the common country of that time. So, after the Danube region was returned on 15th of January 1998 to the Croatian government control, mutual research and monitoring of the Croatian section of the Danube river will be necessary. The new legislation, which is in the procedure to be accepted, should be of help. Once accepted, the law will not allow fishery management in any water unless an elaborate study by a qualified scientific institution is made first. Because the Danube and its basin's rivers the Drava and the Sava are bordering, regional cooperation with neighbouring countries will be necessary in order to perform sustainable exploitation. Table 1: Catches in Croatian open waters from 1987 to 1996 year 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 tons 766 759 812 719 348 199 282 340 364 434

Croatia; Danube; fisheries; report

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