The current state of Lake Balaton is a given, it is not possible to eliminate all the effects of former developments, such as the construction of the railway line or ports, but for the future, the current state must be managed sustainably, Zsolt Szári told Magyar Nemzet, who will be responsible for the wildlife of Lake Balaton as ministerial commissioner from May 1. for his protection.
According to the plans, in a few years the Balaton market could be equal to that of the South American hake for Hungarian perch, carp and bream.
In the 1960s, several non-native fish species were introduced into our country, species that could not have spontaneously entered the domestic fish fauna due to nature. Certain fish species were introduced in larger quantities into Lake Balaton based on the idea that they bring significant economic benefits. Such was the case, for example, with the bus, which brought no benefit, only problems, said Zsolt Szári. So if the reproduction of the busa and the placing of its fry in the fishponds established in the catchment area are prohibited, this fish species will practically disappear from Lake Balaton within 10-15 years.
The ministerial commissioner emphasized: in this case, Lake Balaton can once again belong to the native fish stocks. A good example of this is the tench: it was present in the lake until the great fish die-off that occurred in 1965, but not since then, mainly because of the eel introduced in large quantities.
"We started working on it four years ago, and now we can say that we have achieved serious results with our resettlement attempt. The fishermen caught very nice tench last winter," said Szári, who also pointed out that previously there was no annual limit for hobby anglers, only a daily number limit for fish species protected by size limits (for example, carp, perch, pike, catfish, rock perch, in the case of Bali).
Three years ago, for reasons of sustainability, the annual takeaway quantity of fish protected by size restrictions was limited to 100 pieces.
"According to our calculations, the Union will accept our initiative this month, i.e. Balaton fish as a local product can soon appear on the tables of caterers," the ministerial commissioner reported on the news.
He added: a campaign to popularize Balaton fish will be launched, it will be a very serious task to build this, serious steps will be taken in this matter in the coming years.
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