Assessment of the Impact of Amateur Fishing and Poaching on the Species Diversity of Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates Inhabiting the Main Dnipro Basin Water Bodies on the Ukrainian Territory

5. Assessment of the Impact of Amateur Fishing and Poaching on the Species Diversity of Fish and Aquatic Invertebrates Inhabiting the Main Dnipro Basin Water Bodies on the Ukrainian Territory

The nature and volume of goods and services offered to amateur fishermen as well as fish catches show that there are some 4 mn amateur fishermen in the Dnipro Basin. Estimates show that annually they catch on average up to 168000 tons of river fish and sell/ purchase UAH 500 mn (or around 100 mn euros) worth of goods and services.

In general it is fair to say that the current large-scale illegal extraction of fish and crustacea and well-organized system of sales (which in fact is based along criminal lines) cause substantial damage to the Dnipro Basin environment, undermine its fish stocks, threaten the reproduction of valuable fish species such as sheat-fish and pike-perch and weaken the breeding stock of bream and roach by taking out its best producers. The volume of fish sold in large cities based in the Dnipro Basin is several times larger than the quota established for fishing organizations and exceeds by a factor the officially registered commercial fish catches.

Sports and recreational fishing should develop upon scientifically grounded management lines in order to be successful and environmentally friendly. The present erratic growth of this sector may result in the depletion of fish stocks, degradation of fluvial biotopes and disputes between commercial and amateur fishery.

Next: Identification of Knowledge Gaps and Problems of the Fish Industry

Previous: Assessment of the Fish Industry's Impact on Flora and Fauna Biodiversity