Selective fishing at Lake Palić, Sector IV began on Monday, and since then, day by day, about a ton and a halfof babushka has been taken out. It is an invasive species that makes up as much as 95 percent of the total fish population in the lake. Indigenous and desirable species, such as carp, perch and pike, that happen to be also found in the net, arereturned to their natural habitat.
Having got a boat and special fishing nets, the workers of PE “Palić – Ludaš” and their German colleagues filled in 11 buckets with babushkas on the first attempt, and among them, a single pike was found, which they carefully returned to the lake.
– As stated by the statistics we have, babushka makes up about 95 percent of the Lake Palić total population. It is an invasive species that prevent other species from reproducing, and it is not good or natural that it lives in Lake Palić. Therefore, we hope that the fish species, that are desirable, will reproduce again after this selective fishing. Off course, the company made plans for restocking with young fish in the future period – said Marta Dobo, director of PE Palić – Ludaš, adding that the babushka fishing must be organized every year, preferably several times a year, in order to produce the expected results.
Biomanipulation is being carried within the “Biodiversity and Water Protection Lake Palić and Lake Ludaš” project, and, according to Mr Ervin Molnar, Head of the Project Management Unit, it is one of the main investment measures of this project.
– Although financially less significant than other investment measures, we believe that its results will be significant and that we will be able to see the difference in water quality at the end of the project – said Molnar.
The caught babushkas will be donated to zoos for animal nutrition. Selective fishing was preceded by an examination which showed, as the director of PE Palić – Ludaš said, that the babushkas from Lake Palić are favorable for human consumption