Essential coastal habitats for fish in the Baltic Sea

Abstract

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Past and Current Trends of Coastal Predatory Fish in the Baltic Sea with a Focus on Perch, Pike, and Pikeperch

“…There is a general consensus among fisheries' biologists that the availability and quality of essential habitats (for example, spawning and recruitment habitats) should set the limits for coastal fish production, reviewed in [63]. For coastal fish in the Baltic Sea, however, this has seldom been directly demonstrated [63].…”

“…There is a general consensus among fisheries' biologists that the availability and quality of essential habitats (for example, spawning and recruitment habitats) should set the limits for coastal fish production, reviewed in [63]. For coastal fish in the Baltic Sea, however, this has seldom been directly demonstrated [63]. Evidence for the role of essential habitats for coastal predatory fish production is accumulating, however, and Sundblad and colleagues [53] show a strong correlation between the availability of recruitment habitat and the abundance of adult perch and pikeperch along Swedish and Finnish coasts.…”

“…For measures aiming at strengthening the production of coastal predatory fish, actions related to habitat protection and restoration have scientific support for their effectiveness [22]. In the case of habitat protection, there is no direct evidence for the effects, but substantial indirect evidence [63]. The availability and quality of spawning and recruitment habitats have been shown to be positively related to the population size of adult perch and pikeperch [53], and human impacts such as the construction of piers and marinas and their associated boating traffic have proven to be negative for the quality of these essential habitats [56,68].…”

“…The availability and quality of spawning and recruitment habitats have been shown to be positively related to the population size of adult perch and pikeperch [53], and human impacts such as the construction of piers and marinas and their associated boating traffic have proven to be negative for the quality of these essential habitats [56,68]. It should hence be more cost-effective to protect and minimize impacts on these habitats than to restore them once they are in a deteriorated state [63]. Scientific evaluation of measures related to habitat restoration mainly comes from restoration of coastal tributaries and wetlands that serve as spawning and recruitment areas for pike and, to some extent, also perch.…”

“…There is to date no scientific evidence for a positive effect on coastal predatory fish populations from measures related to stocking, nutrient abatement, reduction of hazardous substances, or biomanipulation (e.g., reduction of predators and competitors such as other fish species and apex predators). Given the little evidence that currently exists, a combination of measures targeting both fisheries sectors (both recreational and commercial) and the essential habitats for the fish in concert likely results in the highest effects [63].…”