On 6 September 2025, the ProtectFish partner BOKU University (Austria) joined the European Anglers Alliance (EAA) General Assembly in Vienna to share the latest project developments. Dr. Kurt Pinter presented his ongoing research on fish conservation and cormorant management, while highlighting the importance of stakeholder involvement. This meeting reflects ProtectFish’s commitment to building bridges among all actors involved in river ecosystem management.
The European Anglers Alliance’s role in ProtectFish
The ProtectFish Consortium has established an External Advisory Board (EAB) to provide expert guidance and ensure that the project responds to stakeholder needs. The European Anglers Alliance plays an active role in this Board and, during its annual General Assembly in Vienna, invited ProtectFish to present progress and next steps.
This exchange illustrates the project’s core mission: building bridges among all interested parties. By engaging with communities such as anglers, ProtectFish ensures that research findings are relevant, practical, and aligned with the needs of those directly involved in river management. Constructive dialogue with stakeholders will also feed into future policy recommendations and management measures.
Focus on Work Package 4: fish conservation in practice
Dr. Kurt Pinter (BOKU Vienna University) presented BOKU’s work under the ProtectFish research project’s Work Package 4 – Fish conservation in practice: Developing solutions for a sustainable management of endangered fish, cormorants and riverine ecosystems”. Together with other ProtectFish partners BfG, DTU, CNR, BCC and NIFRI, the research team is working to:
- Improving conservation status of EU-listed fish species by reducing predation
- Illustrating effects of cormorant management on cormorant density, distribution and behaviour
- Define how many cormorants an area can support to maintain or raise fish stocks
- Assess the influence of habitat, landscape, and biogeographical factors on the hunting pressure of cormorants
- Provide practical, realistic long-term solutions for managers and nature conservation
Considerable local impact of cormorant predation on fish species: findings from PIT-tag retrieval in Austria
ProtectFish field studies in Austria focus on the Upper Drau and Traun rivers, aiming to generate comparative data on the effects of management on fish stocks. During his presentation, K. Pinter outlined the early results of BOKU’s efforts in the selected river stretches, this during winter season 2024/2025. BOKU engaged with fish stock assessments & tagging activities, monitoring of the cormorant’s night roost & PIT-tag retrieval from the birds’ roosting sites and cormorant monitoring by wildlife cameras and local volunteers such as the hunting and angling communities.
Dr. Pinter shared that the PIT-tagging method is very well suited to illustrate predation pressure. Also, figures demonstrate that the proximity of roosting trees to the fish stocks are a key factor in predation. Indeed, his findings indicate that a group of 20 cormorants located within a 25-kilometre radius of their roosting sites exerts a greater impact on local fish species than a population of 1,000 cormorants situated more than 25 kilometers away from their roosting sites.
On the Drau river (40km long & 50m wide stretch), BOKU’s work revealed that:
- Grayling biomass has declined by 96% since 1989
- No recovery of grayling populations can be observed – despite extensive restoration efforts
- A continuous predation pressure by cormorants exists as their establishment on the Drau river is considered a key factor preventing the recovery of fish populations.
On the Traun river, a PIT-tag study demonstrated that around 50% of tagged grayling are eaten by cormorants.
Next steps in Austria for ProtectFish
Field studies on the Austrian Drau river are intended to provide important comparative data on the effects of management on fish stocks.
Looking ahead, BOKU’s team will:
- Continue monitoring cormorant population with wildlife cameras
- Intensive cormorant control in the district of Spittal an der Drau during winter seasons 2025/26 & 2026/27 & 2027/28
- Conduct an annual fish stock assessments and tagging to evaluate the effects of cormorant control on fish stocks


Learn more
- External Advisory Board (EAB) – Protectfish
- ProtectFish Work Packages – Protectfish
- https://boku.ac.at/en/wau/ihg
Media contact for any further information – Aliénor: protectfish@alienor.eu