Workshop on development of the programme to monitor the conservation status of freshwater fish

“Development of a system to monitor the conservation system of species and habitat types” is a project implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, and a recent workshop gathered numerous participants at Krka Eco Campus

The workshop on the programme to monitor the conservation status of the Dalmatian barbel-gudgeon, Adriatic dwarf goby, Dalmatian minnow and Canestrini’s goby was held at the Krka Eco Campus in Puljane on 19 May 2023. The workshop was hosted by the Faculty of Science of the University of Zagreb, Oikon Applied Ecology Institute d.o.o., Public Institute of Aquatika d.o.o. Freshwater Aquarium in Karlovac, Croatian Ichthyology Society, and “Dušek, Hošek and Partners” Conservation s.r.o.

The workshop was held as part of the contract “Services to develop a monitoring programme for species and habitat types of EU interest” as part of the project “Developing a system to monitor the conservation status of species and habitat types” Procurement group 8: “Developing a monitoring programme for freshwater fish with capacity building of stakeholders in monitoring and reporting systems”, implemented by the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development.

In addition to representatives of public institutions for the management of protected areas and areas in the ecological network, the workshop was also intended for members of sports fishing societies and associations. Participants at the workshop were acquainted with the proposed monitoring programme for the Dalmatian barbel-gudgeon, Adriatic dwarf goby, Dalmatian minnow and Canestrini’s goby, and certain aspects of the monitoring system for these species were worked out in further detail.

Monitoring the status of target species is an integral part of nature conservation, and since Croatia’s accession into the EU, monitoring has become a legal obligation, pursuant to the provisions of the Birds Directive and Habitats Directive. A good monitoring system includes professionally verified programmes to monitor the status, which defines the methodologies to collect, process and analyse data for species, with the aim of collecting good quality data on the current status of the population of those species and their habitats, and on anthropogenic threats that jeopardise their survival.