Can a Protected Area Help Improve Fish Populations under Heavy Recreation Fishing?
Karlos R. de Moraes,
Allan T. Souza,
Daniel Bartoň,
Petr Blabolil,
Milan Muška,
Marie Prchalová,
Tomáš Randák,
Milan Říha,
Mojmír Vašek,
Jan Turek,
Michal Tušer,
Vladimír Žlábek,
Jan Kubečka
Affiliations
Karlos R. de Moraes
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Allan T. Souza
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Daniel Bartoň
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Petr Blabolil
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Milan Muška
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Marie Prchalová
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Tomáš Randák
Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, Vodňany, 389 25 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Milan Říha
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Mojmír Vašek
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Jan Turek
Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, Vodňany, 389 25 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Michal Tušer
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Vladimír Žlábek
Faculty of Fisheries and Protection of Waters, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, South Bohemian Research Center of Aquaculture and Biodiversity of Hydrocenoses, Zátiší 728/II, Vodňany, 389 25 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Jan Kubečka
Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, Na Sádkách 7, 370 05 České Budějovice, CZ, Czech Republic
Freshwater protected areas are designated parts of the inland waters that restrict human activities. They were created as a mechanism to combat the decline of fauna and flora of the world. Some authors have questioned their actual effectiveness in terms of the purpose of protecting endangered fauna and flora. We conducted an experiment in Lipno reservoir in the Czech Republic to evaluate the impact of protection against angling pressure on the fish community. We selected data from two years of gill netting and analyzed the difference between areas of low anthropogenic impact (LAI) and those of high anthropogenic impact (HAI) in terms of abundance, biomass, standard length, and diversity indices. Three groups of fish were found to prefer protected areas with low anthropogenic pressure: 1. YOY (Young-of-the-year) perch (Perca fluviatilis), the dominant of the young-of-the-year fish community. 2. Pike (Esox lucius), wels catfish (Silurus glanis) and rudd (Scardinius erythrophthalmus), which were not found in HAI areas at all. 3. Larger individuals of pikeperch (Stizostedion lucioperca), which survived better in LAI areas. Some factors may affect LAI, such as illegal poaching or setting out food bait to attract the fish outside. Another factor that can be considered is the migration of fish, either to forage or to reproduce, since the LAI areas are open to the reservoir. The areas of LAI act as protective habitats for heavily exploited predatory fish species and increase fish diversity indexes. The example of the protected and low-impact areas of Lipno should be followed in other water bodies with high fishing pressure and anthropogenic impact.