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More fish in Swedish lakes, marine populations in decline

Catches of marine fish species such as herring, saithe and nephrops should be reduced, and cod in the Kattegat and the eastern Baltic Sea should not be fished at all. But several freshwater fish species are increasing in numbers, according to a report from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU.

”In Lake Vättern, the stocks of common whitefish, burbot and vendace are so strong that we judge that they can handle increased fishing and the same applies to perch in Lake Mälaren and Hjälmaren”, says Eddie Von Wachenfeldt, environmental analysis specialist at the Department of Aquatic Resources at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, SLU.

Every year, the Department of Aquatic Resources (SLU Aqua), on behalf of the Swedish Maritime Administration, conducts an overview that describes conditions and trends for the most fished species in the sea and the four large lakes: Lake Vänern, Lake Vättern, Lake Mälaren and Lake Hjälmaren.

The report ‘Fish and shellfish stocks in Swedish seas and freshwater’ also provides biological advice for the management of the stocks, i.e. assessments of how fishing on different stocks should be developed if it is to be sustainable in the long term. This year’s report includes descriptions of 48 species, which occur in about a hundred different populations and/or areas.

The knowledge base is based on data collected in commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as extensive monitoring of fish stocks and analyzes by national and international researchers.

Read the full article at FishSec.org

Topics

  • Agriculture, fishing

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