MONITORING OF ALIEN FISH SPECIES PRUSSIAN CARP (Carassius gibelio) IN CROATIAN PART OF THE SAVA RIVER AREA FROM 2004 TO 2017.

The alien fish species Prussian or gibel carp (Carassius gibelio) was introduced to Croatia from Asia several decades ago. The analysis was performed by the official monitoring data from the Final Report for the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Croatia by the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb during the last eight years (2010-2017) in combination with the statistical analysis of the fisheries data of the Krapina-Zagorje County and Sisak-Moslavina County in the period from 2004 to 2015. The proportion of Prussian carp catches (in kg) increased at Sisak-Moslavina County from 26.45% to 41.84% from 2004 to 2015, leading to a significant decrease of catches of common carp from 25.59% to 8.70%, respectively (r² = 0,936; p < 0,01). The catch per unit effort (CPUE) of Prussian carp, defined as annual catch by an average angler, significantly increased, from 6 kg at the beginning of this period to 14 kg at its end. These data show that Prussian carp still enlarges its populations along the Sava River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]