Even though most of the activities of our organisation are aimed at the conservation of birds, we believe it is important to protect other groups of wildlife, too. We’ve been conducting ichthyofaunal studies in several areas of the country since the designation of the Natura 2000 areas. Then based on the finding s, we proposed new areas for several sections of the following rivers: Mureș, Niraj, Târnava Mare, Târnava Mică, Someș, Someșul Mare, Someșul Mic, Șieu, Budac, Crișul Alb, Teuz, Timiș, Olt, Râul Negru, Olteț, Siret, Neajlov, Nera, Suceava, Gilort, Jil, Moldova, Motru, Teleorman, Vedea etc. And most of them have been accepted.
For in stance, to protect the Huchen (Hucho hucho) and other six fish species we proposed the section between Deda and Reghin on Mureș river, which was accepted in 2011 as a Natura 2000 area, but no fish species were mentioned in the standard data form. It took intense lobbying for the seven protected fish species to appear on the form. The conservation of the Huchen is particularly important to us. Together with our partners from the Association of Hunters and Sport Fishermen “Târnava Mare” and the Accent GeoEcological Organisation, we managed in 2014 to prove that the Huchen population in the Mureș can successfully reproduce naturally. Since then, our peers have been monitoring the habitat of the Huchen, while also paying exclusive attention to the protection of its breeding sites.
Our objective is the long-term conservation of the species of fish (and not only) that live here. Fishermen could be of great help to us as we do not intend to ban fishing, but to encourage appropriate ways to practise this sport within the limits of the law. We hope that as a result of our actions, the ecological balance of the river will be restored over time and that we will be able to maintain access to the breeding sites. This could be achieved by setting up effective fish ladders, but also by flooding periodically the floodplain of the river that is important also for the reproduction of the Carp and Pike, species that are important for fishermans, especially in the lower part of the Mureș from the county.
Photo: Sallai Zoltán
