University of Koblenz joins forces with high-calibre partners in new project to protect endangered fish species

The Danish Danmarks Tekniske Universitet is the coordinator and the partners are the University of Koblenz, the Danish Aarhus Universitet Denmark, the Austrian University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, the Czech Biologicke Centrum Akademie vid Ceszke Republiky, the Swedish Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Italy, the Brussels-based political consultancy AliénorEU and the Polish Instytut Rybactwa Srodladowego in Stanistawa.

The kick-off meeting was used to plan the start of the joint research work, discuss content-related issues, solve initial problems and develop ways to communicate future results.

In this project, data is to be collected and analysed throughout Europe and made available to interested parties. Topics include the population and conservation status of the cormorant, its feeding ecology and mobility. Other focal points are the population of endangered fish species, recording methods and conservation status. Research will also be conducted into the impact of cormorants eating fish (cormorant predation) on the ecological status of watercourses and the need to protect fish stocks from predation. Finally, the project team wants to shed light on cormorant management options, their effectiveness, cost and ability to compromise.

During the meeting, it was agreed with the representative of the European Committee, Dr Frank Vassen, that the project team would be allowed to retrieve data on the fish population and the colonisation of the river beds with invertebrate organisms.

Three of the four project-related doctoral positions were filled. The three PhD candidates agreed to regular informal online meetings.

The detailed planning of the work was finalised and approved by the project team.

The field work will start in at least four of the participating institutions, including the University of Koblenz, in September or October of this year. Firstly, the grayling stocks in the experimental stretches will be determined.

The project team also wants to improve communication between the interest groups and inform political decision-makers and water managers. Dr Carola Winkelmann, project manager at the University of Koblenz, is delighted: "The funding of this international project by the EU enables us to carry out research work, the results of which will hopefully feed directly into political decisions at EU level, but also in Rhineland-Palatinate."

The first results are expected next year. However, the experimental and large-scale studies can only be analysed towards the end of the project. The head of the project, Dr Niels Jepsen from Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, emphasises that the team, in close cooperation with the relevant stakeholders and hundreds of volunteers, wants to develop recommendations for politicians on fish conservation and greatly improve the management of endangered fish species.

The project will run from August 2024 to July 2028.

Background

Over 50 per cent of fish species in Germany are now on the Red List. There are many reasons for the ever-decreasing fish stocks, but the project team believes that predation pressure on fish by birds is not being adequately addressed. Initial studies suggest that the population declines for some fish species could be caused by piscivorous birds, such as the cormorant. One of these sensitive fish species is the European grayling. This species was also widespread in Rhineland-Palatinate and showed very high population densities in rivers such as the Ahr or Kyll. For around 20 years, the populations have been declining drastically, with only individual specimens still detectable in many places. On the other hand, the cormorant is also a protected species that had extremely low populations in the 1970s and 1980s. These populations have made an excellent recovery in recent years.

There is therefore currently a strong conflict in species conservation regarding the question of whether cormorant populations should be regulated in favour of fish conservation.