Management of vendace (Coregonus albula (L.)) in the lakes of northwest Poland in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries

Abstract

Vendace, Coregonus albula (L.), catch and stocking data obtained from 24 fish farms using vendace lakes (total surface area of 22311.77 ha) situated in northwest Poland were analyzed. The average total fish yield from these lakes was 12.53 kg ha^-1, of which the average share of vendace was 18%. The highest vendace yield was obtained in lakes with water surface areas of less than 250 ha and with an average depth of more than 10 m. According to the lake classification proposed by the authors, as many as 28 lakes (43.1%) were classified as ‘bad lakes’ with very low vendace yield (< 2 kg ha^-1), while only four lakes (6.2%) were classified as ‘very good’ with yield exceeding 10 kg ha^-1. It was revealed that vendace yield (kg ha^-1) depended on the number of vendace larvae stocked and some of the morphometric features of the lakes such as water surface area and average depth.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:

Przemysław Czerniejewski, Akademia Rolnicza, Zakład Gospodarki Rybackiej na Wodach Otwartych, ul. Kazimierza Królewicza 4, 71-550 Szczecin, Tel./Fax: +48 (91) 4231061; e-mail:ZGL@fish.ar.szczecin.pl