Early January (08.01) project partners Dr. Kurt Pinter & PhD. Phillip Schmitt from BOKU University (Austria) gathered in “Schloss Drauhofen” in Carinthia (Austria) with the local hunting community to discuss the latest news and developments of the ProtectFish project.
During this evening gathering, Dr. Kurt Pinter & PhD. Phillip Schmitt (BOKU) were able to inform the audience about ProtectFish’ selected Austrian study area on the Upper Drava River. Over 28 people expressed a mounting interest in the project and their concern about the protection of precious freshwater species.
Several options to reduce cormorant predation were discussed, as well as ideas for further constructive collaboration under the project’s framework.
This event was organised under the framework of ProtectFish’s Work Package 4 – field experiments to study the effect of a decreased population pressure. Within this project’s section, experts will carry out extensive field studies throughout Europe to assess how the modification of cormorant predation pressure interacts with the conservation status of riverine fish populations.
Photo credits: BOKU, 2024
A similar event had already been organised in December 2024 in Denmark by ProtectFish Coordinator Dr. Niels Jepsen to gather important Danish stakeholders such as Danmarks Sportsfiskerforbund (Danish Sportfishing Association) and the Danish Angling Association, Fishing Zealand and Angling Denmark.
The meeting’s goal was to create crucial networks in Denmark among those who would like to participate actively in the “Projekt Stalling”. This sub-project will investigate in five Jutland watercourses what happens to grayling population when “selected stretches are exempted of cormorants using different methods such as patrolling, scaring and regulation”.
Building bridges between all interested parties is at the heart of the ProtectFish project. This with the goal of finding balanced and informed common ground among stakeholders via constructive dialogues. The outcomes of these dialogues will feed into management measures proposals.
More information
- Meeting focused on cormorants and cormorant regulation
- ProtectFish Work Packages – Protectfish
- https://boku.ac.at/en/wau/ihg
- Project Stalling
Media contact for any further information – Aliénor: protectfish@alienor.eu