European smelt Osmerus eperlanus in the eastern Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea: Stock status and fishery.

Abstract

In the eastern Gulf of Finland, European smelt Osmerus eperlanus occurs as an anadromous ecological form that spawns in coastal, low-salinity zones and in several rivers entering the gulf, most importantly in the River Neva. Osmerus eperlanus is a key commercial fish species for the population of St. Petersburg, and the city's fish symbol. However, the state of the smelt stock has considerably deteriorated over the past few decades. Monitoring shows that annual catches during 1965-1992 averaged 2274 t, compared to 292 t in 2002-2017, although some improvement is inidicated by a gradual increase in catches in recent years (e.g., to 595 t in 2017). This paper addresses long-term and recent changes in the fisheries for smelt in the eastern Gulf of Finland, including both commercial and recreational fisheries, and the range of fishing gears used. The commercial smelt fishery is mainly conducted during the spawning period (April-May) on migrating fish, using trap nets of various designs and beach seines. There has been an increase in recreational fisheries for smelt; in years when ice cover on the gulf during winter (December-April) is steady, recreational fishers from St. Petersburg, using hook and line, may catch quantities that are comparable to those of commercial catches. Several factors may account for the stock dynamics and associated changes in catches of smelt: these include a decrease in prey availability in the gulf; loss and degradation of spawning and nursery habitats, partly associated with large-scale hydroengineering operations in Neva Bay; and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing which became widespread in post-Soviet decades. In spite of a gradual increase in smelt abundance in the most recent 15 years, a failure to accurately monitor and manage the extent of IUU and recreational fishing for smelt, to assess the status of the stock, or to forecast catches, increases the risk of overfishing of the spawning stock.