FISHING RESTRICTIONS

There are some general regulations for angling. Sport fishing-angling is allowed with at most three (3) fishing rods with one hook, and exceptionally artificial bait which can have more than one hook, at most two. Sport fishing-angling on all the salmonid species is allowed with one fishing rod and one artificial fly or bait.

Angling of European catfish from the boat is allowed with one catfish attractant (in Croatian: bućkalo), one fishing rod or fishing lure with one hook. Fishing rods and

fishing gear must be under constant immediate attention of the angler. Artificial bait can have at most two hooks (single-hook, double-hook or three-hook) with or without contra-hook. The size of the artificial bait for huchen (Danube salmon) and marble trout should not be less than 18 cm. Except for common fishing regulations, every fishing right owner has their own internal regulations (allowed daily catch in kilograms or pieces, night fishing, using of boats, etc.) based on verified fisheries management studies and yearly plans, as well as other internal financial regulations regarding membership.

Apart from the general fishing regulations, there are conservation measures regulated through the Fish Conservation Ordinance. General fishing restrictions, catch sizes, closed seasons and restrictions on size of fish and on fishing activity when spawning are set out in Table 13 and apply to the following species: brown trout, lake trout, soft-muzzled trout, rainbow trout, huchen, marble trout, grayling, tench, barbel, Northern pike, pike-perch, common carp, European catfish, sterlet, asp and ide (orfe).

Fishing restrictions apply during spawning and restrictions of fish size apply for some fish species, especially those which are most popular and which are endemic and/or are under some level of protection.

In order to preserve natural ecosystems, it is forbidden to restock with non-native fish species. The only exception applies to closed water bodies which are not in contact with connected river systems of particular basins. Moreover, it is forbidden to use alien fish species as bait. A detailed list of alien species is provided by Piria et al. (2018).

TABLE 13

Closed season for particular fishing area and the smallest fishing size allowed

Fish species Closed season (from – to) Water body The smallest size allowed

Salmo trutta m. fario L. 1 October – 31 March Kupa River Čabranka River Žumberak Streams and north of the Sava River

Gacka River 50 cm

1 October – 28/29 February Other fishing waters other fishing waters 30 cm Salmo trutta m. lacustris L. 1 October – 28/29 February All fishing waters 40 cm

Salmo obtusirostris 1 October – 31 May Jadro, Žrnovnica, Vrlika

and Krka Rivers 30 cm

Hucho hucho 16 February – 30 September All fishing waters 80 cm

Salmo marmoratus 16 February – 30 September All fishing waters 70 cm

Thymallus thymallus 16 October – 15 May Kupa and Kupica Rivers 32 cm

1 January – 15 May Other fishing waters 30 cm

Esox lucius 1 February – 31 March in all fishing waters except in habitats with presence of trout species, huchen and grayling

40 cm

Sander lucioperca 31 March – 31 May All fishing waters 40 cm

Cyprinus carpio 1 April – 31 May Only for wild form 40 cm

Silurus glanis 16 April – 15 June All fishing waters, except Danube River

60 cm

Acipenser ruthenus 1 March – 31 May All fishing waters 40 cm

Aspius aspius 1 April – 31 May Dunavci: Poretak,

Ostrovski,Vučedolski, Opatovački i Renovski

40 cm

Leuciscus idus 1 May – 31 May Dunavci: Poretak,

Ostrovski,Vučedolski,

It is forbidden to use any kind of live bait (fish, worms or insect) in water bodies containing brown trout, huchen and grayling.

For sport fishing as well as for commercial fishing, no fishing activity is permitted from 1^st February to 31^st May in the following fishing zones on the Danube River (see Chapter 4.6.):

– D1 fishing zone - Šarkanjski, Zmajevački and Monjoroški Dunavac;

– D2 fishing zone - Porićki and Erdutski Dunavac – D3 fishing zone - Iločki Dunavac

For sport fishing in these three zones, it is forbidden to take common carp, asp and ide and it is also forbidden to use live fish as bait.

Commercial fishers are forbidden to set up any permanent or temporary barrier to enclose fishing waters. Additionally, they cannot use artificial light at night for fishing.

If anglers catch fish species smaller than the allowed size or damage any fish stock, damage compensation is prescribed. The calculation is based on the total mass of each species caught and multiplied with a prescribed coefficient for each particular species.

According to the Natural Protection Act and the ordinance of strictly protected species, it is strictly forbidden to disturb the species listed in Table 14 in any way.

Most of these species belong to the Adriatic Sea River Basin. Several fish species are protected only in some areas but in other areas, recreational fishing is still allowed (e.g.

fishing on endemic Salmo obtusirostris is forbidden in rivers where it is native but allowed at a translocated site – Žrnovnica River).

4.5.1 The new freshwater fisheries Act in Croatia

As there is no EU common freshwater fisheries policy, every EU member country can stipulate its own fisheries policy according to its geomorphological, biological, ecological, ichthyological but also socio-economic circumstances and conditions.

Croatia is in the process of creating the new Freshwater Fisheries Act, which is currently on the second reading in the Croatian Parliament. In the process, EU documents regarding the regulation of freshwater fish and fish products market in commercial fisheries are taken into account. These are specifically documents on the traceability of fish and fish products (Council Regulation (EC) No 1224/2009 of 20 November 2009 establishing a community control system to ensure compliance with the rules of the common fisheries policy and Regulation (EU) No 1379/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 December 2013 on the common organization of fishery and aquaculture products markets).

Market regulations are of national importance to bring fish and fish products from inland waters effectively and safely to markets. Also, fish grey markets need to be brought under control and enable sufficient supply of freshwater fish and fish products to satisfy market needs. The traceability of the origin of fish is of upmost importance for consumers as well as for human health issues.

The laws in this Act that deal with the management plans of fish stocks are harmonized with nature protection and water management laws. In terms of recreational fisheries, the main goal is to transform fishing right owners from a “seller of the licenses” into a real manager who is responsible for fish stocks. Furthermore, the capability of developing recreational fisheries and overall tourist facilities is important.

The new Act reduces and cuts administrative obligations, procedures and expenses of all beneficiaries in freshwater fisheries, the Government Action plan for administrative relief (2018) will serve the subsistence and development of recreational and commercial fisheries in Croatia. Fishing right owners have the opportunity to introduce some closed free access water bodies into “pay lakes“ or “fee fishing lakes“, in order to expand sports fishing facilities and to enable the sport fishers to buy all the surplus catch they want. Under the current Freshwater Fisheries Act, it was not possible to buy fish that had been caught and anglers could only take a limited catch quantity

established in the fishing right owner’s management plan. This opens a new aspect on some voluntary fisheries locations and widens the facilities from strictly conservational catch and release to “pay lakes”. There is also one important new issue regulating authentication of fishing licenses, which are now strictly connected to the fishing zones, assigned to each of the 130 owners of the fishing rights. The possibility that the Ministry of Agriculture can regulate fisheries licenses for particular fishing water zones, several nearby fishing zones or even big fishing zones is now being introduced.

This could improve the management of connected zones and ease the purchasing and control of licenses. Fishing right owners can also establish contracts of reciprocity amongst themselves.

If a fishing rights owner wants to manage a new water body created after construction works, there is no need for a public tender, just a simple administrative procedure. Afterwards, a management plan for the water body must be provided to ensure it will be utilized in an ecological, biological and ichthyological manner.

Additionally, some minor decentralization of fisheries management is taking place as counties take on certain commercial fishery matters. County officials are appointed for immediate monitoring and control roles. There is some local interest to continue commercial fisheries with old, traditional fishing gear, equipment and methods, which were historically used by fishers. These have an important tourist value, as well as maintaining and conserving historical gear-making skills and for educational purposes.

The Act allows fishers to use such historical gear and equipment only in the Sava and Danube rivers.

An electronic system will be created for purchasing electronic licenses, no-cash transactions, and allocation and distribution of financial funds. The purchasing of licenses will be eased. It is expected that the frequency and the number of anglers arriving as fishing tourists will increase benefiting the development of small rural communities. By introducing more flexible financing, the owners of the fishing rights can fulfil their financial obligations more easily according to the management plan (i.e.

fish stocking and bailiffs). The financial value of the license is divided into two: one smaller, fixed part covering the financing of fisheries monitoring and public affairs of the Croatian Anglers’ Association, as well as the 5-year accumulation of financial funds for financing management plan revision, and the bigger, variable part for owners of the fishing rights covering their management costs.

Authorized persons will be trained as inspectors as per the Offenses Act. A new category of fisheries is being introduced (fisheries for the purpose of public Aquaria), with trained personnel and updated norms in scientific-exploration institutions.

Finally, the proposed Act highlights the responsible and sustainable use of fish stock as freshwater resources. The adjustments to the new law solutions will not represent any financial burden for the freshwater fisheries sector, as the state budget has funds for financing change, such as the electronic database as well as electronic applications for catch documentation and issuing of licenses.

4.6 ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND CONFLICTS WITH OTHER WATER USES