Value and structure of fish catches and stocking intensity in lake enterprises before and after fisheries ownership transfer in Poland
Maciej Mickiewicz
ABSTRACT. The current report was written using data from the 1973-2004 period regarding fisheries catches and stocking. These data come from management logs for 300 lakes with a total surface area of 116,736 ha. In the 1973-1982 period, the mean annual value of catches for all species of fish was 226.33 PLN ha-1, and this was twice as high as that in the 1995-2004 period (113.77 PLN ha-1). Of stocked species, eel, Anguilla anguilla (L.) (46%), and vendace, Coregonus albula (L.) (17%), dominated the value structure of catches in the first decade, while eel (35%), vendace (15%), pike, Esox lucius L., (11%), and pikeperch, Sander lucioperca (L.) (9%) dominated in the second decade. The mean annual value of stocking material of all species in the 1973-1982 period, which was 385.91 PLN ha-1, was more than 7.5 times higher than that in the 1995-2004 period (50.40 PLN ha-1). This difference was determined by the value of eel stocking. With a share of more than 95%, the value of eel stocking dominated decisively in the first decade. In the second decade analyzed, the value of stocked eel (57%), vendace (15%), and pike (14%) dominated. After eliminating the value of eel catches and stocking, the value of stocking in comparison with the value of catches in the first decade analyzed was barely 15%, while in the second decade analyzed it was almost twice as high at 29%.
Keywords: fisheries management, lake stocking, ownership transformation
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:
M. Mickiewicz [+]
Department of Fisheries Bioeconomics
Inland Fisheries Institute in Olsztyn
Oczapowskiego 10, 10-719 Olsztyn, Poland
Tel. +48 89 524 10 65; e-mail: mmickiewicz@infish.com.pl