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This article focuses on the socioeconomic aspects of recreational ice fishing and on the related pressures on the fish stocks of Lake Peipsi in changing ice conditions. Structured interviews conducted with anglers were combined with the assessment of the landings, the numbers of fishermen, and fluctuations in ice-cover periods. At weekends, up to 3000 anglers were observed on the Estonian side of the ice-covered lake. Respondents defined ice fishing as a hobby; however, financial gain from selling caught fish was an important incentive for retired or unemployed persons. Eurasian perch, Perca fluviatilis L., was the most important target fish. Catches amounted from 0 to 20 kg (mean ~4 kg) per day per angler. Depending on the length of the ice-cover period, which varied from a few days to four months, the total catch may differ about ten times. In the case of long ice-cover periods, anglers may fish out approximately 40% of the total catch of perch, roach, Rutilus rutilus (L.), and ruffe, Gymnocephalus cernuus (L.) in the lake. However, favouring recreational fisheries would help to maintain the traditional fisheries-dependent lifestyle and benefit socioeconomically less secured people around Lake Peipsi and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates macrozoobenthos communities of the reed belts in the two largest lakes of the Baltic region: Peipsi (3555 km2) and Võrtsjärv (270 km2). Although both are shallow and unstratified water bodies, their trophic states differ slightly in physico-chemical aspects and primary production. The reed Phragmites australis (Cav.) is a dominant species in the macrophyte communities, which has increased drastically in both lakes during the last 30 years. Although the bottom fauna of the two large Estonian lakes has been studied for several decades, investigations of the macrozoobenthos communities of the reed belt are scarce. The aims of this study were to describe the macrozoobenthos communities of the reed belt, to find out the main factors affecting the structure of the communities, and to compare these communities in the two lakes. The material for this study was collected from 13 profiles of L. Peipsi and from 9 profiles of L. Võrtsjärv at depths between 0.1 and 0.6 m in the reed belt from August to October 2002 and 2003. The benthic fauna of the reed belt was statistically different in the two large lakes of Estonia. Chironomids were dominating in the macrophyte zone of L. Võrtsjärv. In L. Peipsi, the gammaridean amphipod Gmelinoides fasciatus (Stebbing), introduced from L. Baikal into the lake at the beginning of the 1970s, was strongly dominating in the littoral zoobenthic communities. This amphipod has explosively increased in the lake, while the native gammarids have been virtually superseded by this invader during recent decades. Substrate type and vegetation significantly influence the macrozoobenthos communities. The results of the present study show that the abundance and taxon richness of macrozoobenthos were the highest on gravel bottom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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