Return of twaite shad Alosa fallax (Lacépède, 1803) to the Southern Baltic Sea and the transitional area between the Baltic and North Seas

Abstract

The status of twaite shad was investigated within the Southern Baltic Sea (ICES subdivision 22–27) and transitional area between the Baltic and North Seas (division IIIa). The following sources of data were analysed: (i) commercial catch statistics and relevant publications, (ii) records from ichthyological museum collections, (iii) records from recent commercial and recreational fisheries, (iv) research fisheries with trawls. A total of 476 records of twaite shad including more than 16 million individuals were obtained for the time between the years 1836 and 2005. About 72.9% of all records originated from commercial catch statistics and publications, whereas 18.9% were received from ichthyological collections. Research fisheries provided 6.3%, and 1.9% of the records were obtained from recent commercial and recreational fisheries. Most records of twaite shad were estimated for subdivisions 24 (45.2%) and 26 (35.5%). From 1836 to 1959, 29.6% of the records date from the period until 1899. 70.4% of the records of twaite shad originate from the twentieth century until 1959. The mean annual catch of twaite shad between 1891 and 1959 amounted to 86,674 kg within subdivisions 24–26 of the Southern Baltic Sea. Catch data show an approximately 20-year-cyclicity of maximum yields and minimum catches, respectively. The maximum annual yield of twaite shad in subdivisions 24–26 (474,700 kg) was registered in 1940, the minimum annual yield was estimated in 1958 (10 kg). In the 1950s, the annual catches of twaite shad declined sharply. Until 1960 twaite shad catches and records originated mainly from the Pommeranian Bay/Pommeranian Coast and adjacent waters including the Szczecin Lagoon (subdivision 24), the Bay of Gdansk, Vistula Lagoon and Vistula Spit (subdivision 26) and from the Curonian Lagoon and Curonian Spit (subdivision 26). The highest catches of twaite shad originated from the area of Curonian Lagoon/Curonian Spit from 1941 to 1960. Seasonal catches of twaite shad showed maximum values from May to July. From 1960 to 1989, only four records of A. fallax were registered in the Southern Baltic Sea which originated from German coastal waters in subdivisions 22 and 24. A total of 107 records of twaite shad was obtained in subdivisions 20–27 from 1990 to 2005. Most of these recent records originate from a twaite-shad stock in subdivisions 24, 25 and 26. There are indications which suggest a separate stock of twaite shad in subdivisions 20 and 21. Disappearance and recovery of twaite shad stocks were probably caused by the following factors: construction of barriers in rivers with spawning sites of twaite shad; habitat destruction in those rivers as consequence of gravel extraction and reengineering scheme to improve navigation and for flood defence purposes, water pollution in the lagoons of the Southern Baltic and in their tributaries, commercial fishery in the Southern Baltic and climatic variation in the Baltic Sea basin south of the latitude of 60° N.