Matthias Emmrich

Development of a fish-based index to assess the eutrophication status of European lakes

The use of the CEN (European Committee for Standardization) standard method for sampling fish in lakes using multi-mesh gillnets allowed the collection of fish assemblages of 445 European lakes in 12 countries. The lakes were additionally characterised by environmental drivers and eutrophication proxies. Following a site-specific approach including a validation procedure, a fish index including two abundance metrics (catch per unit effort expressed as fish number and biomass) and one functional metric of composition (abundance of omnivorous fish) was developed. Correlated with the proxy of eutrophication, this index discriminates between heavily and moderately impacted lakes. Additional analyses on a subset of data from Nordic lakes revealed a stronger correlation between the new fish index and the pressure data. Despite an uneven geographical distribution of the lakes and certain shortcomings in the environmental and pressure data, the fish index proved to be useful for ecological status assessment of lakes applying standardised protocols and thus supports the development of national lake fish assessment tools in line with the European Water Framework Directive.

Impact of recreational fisheries management on fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes with contrasts to unmanaged lakes

Gravel pit lakes constitute novel ecosystems that can be colonized by fishes through natural or anthropogenic pathways. Many of these man-made lakes are used by recreational anglers and experience regular fish stocking. Recreationally unmanaged gravel pits may also be affected by fish introductions, e.g., through illegal fish releases, thereby contributing to the formation of site-specific communities. Our objective was to compare the fish biodiversity in gravel pit lakes with and without the recent influence of recreational fisheries management. We sampled 23 small (< 20 ha) gravel pit lakes (16 managed and 7 unmanaged) in north-western Germany and compared fish community and diversity metrics obtained using littoral electrofishing and multimesh gillnet catch per unit effort data. Given the size of the lakes we sampled we expected species poor communities and elevated fish diversity in the managed systems due to stocking. The two lake types were primarily mesotrophic and did not differ in key abiotic and biotic environmental characteristics. Both lakes types hosted similar fish abundance and biomass, but were substantially different in terms of the fish community structure and species richness. Fish were present in all lakes with at least three species. We discovered a higher α-diversity and a lower β-diversity in managed gravel pit lakes compared to unmanaged lakes. Thus, recreational fisheries management appeared to foster homogenization of fish communities, likely because fisheries managers stock these lakes with desired fish species (e.g., piscivorous fishes and large bodied cyprinids). However, we also detected anthropogenic pathways in the colonization of unmanaged gravel pit lakes, presumably from illegal releases by private people. Importantly, hardly any non-native species were detected in the gravel pits we studied, suggesting that recreational fisheries management not necessarily promotes the spread of exotic species. Significance Statement Little is known about fish communities in artificially created gravel pit lakes. We compared those managed by recreational fishers with those lacking fisheries management in north-western Germany. We found fishes in all gravel pit lakes and demonstrated a higher α-diversity but more homogenized fish communities in managed gravel pit lakes compared to unmanaged lakes. We did not detect the establishment of relevant abundances of non-natives fishes despite intensive fisheries management.