Fishing magazines abound with photos of monstrous catfish caught from the River Ebro in Spain, and the joy of catching one these enormous fish over 200 pounds must be immense pleasure while fishing in Spain.
These fish grow at a phenomenal rate of ten to fifteen pounds a year. This is achievable by the catfish feeding on a large population of carp, and other endemic species.
The River Ebro is regarded by most specimen hunters to be the premier destination in Europe to catch catfish. The river makes the long 910km (565 miles) journey eastwards to Amposta before reaching the sea. The catfish in the Ebro have an almost perfect environment, an abundance of food, very few predators, and a long growing season due to relatively short Spanish winters.
However, the catfish is a non-native species, and following its controlled introduction it has become clear from surveys, that there has been a rapid decline in other fish species. Some endemic species of Iberian barbel, which had once been abundant in the Ebro River, completely disappearance in the middle channel around 1990 due to competition and predation by catfish, this observation is borne out by the fact that barbel species from mountain stream tributaries of the River Ebro where catfish have not colonized, have not been affected.
The catfish was legally introduced under controlled conditions, for experimental or sport-fishing purposes. However, it is now believed that the ensuing spread of the catfish is mainly due to unofficial and unrestrained introductions by sport fishermen.
There is a law in place to combat the above problem. Spanish Law 42/2007 was introduced for the control or eradication of ?illegally introduced? non-native fishes, when documented surveys support that the introduced species has had an adverse effect on the native species. During the period 2000 till 2009, 238 documented surveys were carried out in the Ebro basin.
The bureaucratic wheels of public administrators move slowly in Spain, prevention measures need to be taken by the administrators to control the spread of non native fishes to other rivers and also prevent new introductions.
Invasive species are recognized as a leading cause of animal extinctions, you only have to look at Britain and the introduction of the zander to see the potential problems, some anglers love to target this hard fighting fish, while others despise its very existence because it has decimated the native species throughout large stretches of British waterways. Ebro beware!
These fish grow at a phenomenal rate of ten to fifteen pounds a year. This is achievable by the catfish feeding on a large population of carp, and other endemic species.
The River Ebro is regarded by most specimen hunters to be the premier destination in Europe to catch catfish. The river makes the long 910km (565 miles) journey eastwards to Amposta before reaching the sea. The catfish in the Ebro have an almost perfect environment, an abundance of food, very few predators, and a long growing season due to relatively short Spanish winters.
However, the catfish is a non-native species, and following its controlled introduction it has become clear from surveys, that there has been a rapid decline in other fish species. Some endemic species of Iberian barbel, which had once been abundant in the Ebro River, completely disappearance in the middle channel around 1990 due to competition and predation by catfish, this observation is borne out by the fact that barbel species from mountain stream tributaries of the River Ebro where catfish have not colonized, have not been affected.
The catfish was legally introduced under controlled conditions, for experimental or sport-fishing purposes. However, it is now believed that the ensuing spread of the catfish is mainly due to unofficial and unrestrained introductions by sport fishermen.
There is a law in place to combat the above problem. Spanish Law 42/2007 was introduced for the control or eradication of ?illegally introduced? non-native fishes, when documented surveys support that the introduced species has had an adverse effect on the native species. During the period 2000 till 2009, 238 documented surveys were carried out in the Ebro basin.
The bureaucratic wheels of public administrators move slowly in Spain, prevention measures need to be taken by the administrators to control the spread of non native fishes to other rivers and also prevent new introductions.
Invasive species are recognized as a leading cause of animal extinctions, you only have to look at Britain and the introduction of the zander to see the potential problems, some anglers love to target this hard fighting fish, while others despise its very existence because it has decimated the native species throughout large stretches of British waterways. Ebro beware!
Posting Komentar