Global characterization of inland fishery enhancements and associated environmental impacts.

Abstract

This paper summarizes the results of an effort to characterize inland fishery enhancements on a global scale. The basis for the characterization was an automated literature search in the Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) for the years 1978-1997 with focus on introductions, stocking, environmental engineering and fertilization. The results were combined with information from the FAO Database on Introductions of Aquatic Species (DIAS) and the FAO Hatchery Production Databas e. Data were stored in a database for analysis and the results were linked to maps for a geographical presentation. An additional overview of the possible environmental impacts of inland fishery enhancements and associated prevention, mitigation and rehabilitation measures is also given. Stocking and introductions are the most commonly used fishery enhancement techniques in inland water bodies and information was most abundant in North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania with fewer ref erences for Africa and Latin America. Enhancement techniques to engineer the environment and to fertilize inland water bodies are less frequently used. Pre-intervention environmental assessments were found to be very scarce, but postintervention studies were numerous, with a considerable amount of literature on the effects of predation by introduced species.