Salmon Parsęta: Protection of the Atlantic Salmon and the River Lamprey in the Special Area of Conservation of the Parsęta River Basinjekt
Summary
Centuries of regulation and exploitation of rivers in the Baltic Sea area have degraded their ability to provide procreation conditions for migrating fish species. Pollution, construction of artificial barriers, gravel mining, overfishing and similar processes belong to the main reasons for the population decline of the Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) and the river lamprey (Lampetra fluviatilis).
This project aimed to stabilise the populations of these two species in the Parsęta river basin by restoring spawning grounds in selected rivers and through awareness raising in order to reduce the pressure exerted by anglers on endangered species. Moreover, about 260,000 juvenile salmon fish were released to support the fish stocks, and a monitoring system was installed at the hydropower plant Rościno to gather data about fish migration.
This project was carried out in parallel to the project “Increasing Passability of Ecological Corridors in the Parsęta River Basin”.
Project Data
Beneficiary
Partners
Co-funders
- Polish Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy
Country
PolandDuration
2018/07/01 - 2023/10/31Budget
Project Results
8 new spawning grounds were created to support procreation: 2 in the Parsęta, 2 each in its tributaries Mogilica and Liśnica, and 1 each in its tributaries Leszczynka and Dębnica
183,750 salmon fry and 82,510 salmon smolts were released to support the fish stocks
A fish counter was installed at a fish pass, and 24,000 individuals of Salmon smolt were tagged to assess return and mortality rates during migration
90 educational workshops with 4,050 participants as part of the campaign “STOP Poaching!”