Authors: Lyach, Roman;

Freshwater fishes are among the most threatened organisms worldwide. Fishing restrictions such as bag and slot limits are often used as a conservation tool. They aim to reduce the number of fish caught by anglers. We analyzed the effect of fisheries restrictions and regulations on the harvest rates (yields) of the following freshwater fish species: mainly common carp Cyprinus carpio, Eurasian perch Perca fluviatilis, European grayling Thymallus thymallus, and European eel Anguilla anguilla. This way, we analyzed data regarding several million fish caught by several hundreds of thousands of anglers in central Bohemia over 16 years. The result was that the angling restrictions such as bag and slot limits worked like a charm. They almost always resulted in an immediate significant plummet in the harvest rates of the targeted fish species. However, the fishing effort (the number of fishing trips) kept increasing over time, meaning that the anthropogenic pressure on the fish populations was only partially removed by the fishing restrictions. In conclusion, we vigorously recommend using the fishing restrictions since they usually do their job.