Opinions of Owners and Managers of Fishing Entities in Central and Eastern Europe on the Impact of Climate Change on Lake Fisheries Management

The study of the impact of climate change on the fish fauna and fisheries management is a relatively young field of scientific research which has yielded very few analytical studies in the Central and Eastern European countries. This paper is the first attempt to examine the impact of this change on lake fisheries management, made based on an extensive and representative survey addressed at managers and owners of the entities authorised to use these waters for fishing and angling purposes. The conducted analyses enabled the determination of their opinions on the issues of climate change impact on the fish, selected hydrological and biological lake parameters, the possibility of use of fishing gear and its efficiency, the length of angling season, the amount of individual fish species caught by anglers and fishermen, and positive phenomena relating to climate change. Of all the phenomena arising from this change and perceived by the respondents surveyed, the growing population of the great cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo (L.)), which is exerting increasing pressure on the fishery resources, and conducive to this change, is definitely at the head of the list. As regards the fish species, the pike (Esox lucius L.) is the most vulnerable to this change. The presented results prove that the managers under the study are aware of the ongoing changes and their impact on lake fisheries management, and of the challenges that they will have to face as early as in the coming decades of the 21st century.