Fishing in the Gesäuse National Park

From a water morphological and fish ecological point of view as well as with regard to its plant world, arachnid and insect fauna, the Gesäuse-Enns is described as particularly valuable to unique. With the Koppe and the Bachneunauge, two protected objects of the Habitats Directive are representative in the Natura 2000 area, with the Strömer and Huchen two more (potential) present in currently very low densities. The protection and promotion of these protected goods is a priority over all interests of use in accordance with the protection requirements of the Habitats Directive. The brown trout, one of the six main species in the Gesäuse-Enns, on the other hand, has no legal protection status and is therefore not to be treated as a matter of priority from a nature conservation point of view. The nationwide common and also practiced at the Enns stocking with the non-resident and potentially invasive rainbow trout did not take place in the Gesäuse-Enns by the casting club. Due to the upstream occupation measures with this alien species, they are still represented in the national park. Hege fishing carried out or proposed by the casting club and clearing, i.e. targeted removal of rainbow trout in the course of fly and spinning fishing, to protect the brown trout, are classified as hardly effective. Effective methods for pushing back the rainbow trout would be a stop of this species on the entire Enns (especially upstream of the Gesäuses) and the consistent removal of this neozoon in the course of electric fishing. Monitoring by means of angling fishing, as proposed by Castingclub Gesäuse, is neither possible nor does it comply with the current standards for quantitative fish stock surveys in rivers (electrical fishing). The fulfilment of the requirements for scientifically sound and partly legally required ecological monitoring is not possible on the part of the fishing community en passant and rather requires trained specialists who recognize and document small (most) changes in the ecosystem using modern methods. Outside protected areas, ecologically trained anglers often have a valuable control function due to their presence on the water, which makes it possible to detect obvious impairments of the water and its lifeworld at an early stage. There is no need for this in the Gesäuse National Park, as this function is performed in a more extensive and stringent manner by trained national park employees. In the efforts to present sport fishing activities as monitoring and fish-ecological regulatory measures, a defence of self-interests of the casting club must be presumed. The direct and indirect impact of angling in its current form and the absence of restocking measures on the protected fish and nine-eye species is considered to be low. However, the presence of several sensitive, endangered and protected river and riverside-related protected assets makes fishing in the Gesäuse National Park and the Ennstaler Alpen/Gesäuse Natura 2000 site a conflicting form of exploitation. the (semi)terrestrial fauna, flora and habitats to be protected are affected by angling; In its present form, it has a detrimental effect on the indigenous fauna and flora, among other things, by representing and directly disturbing the anglers. All in all, these effects of fishing in the Gesäuse National Park are to be assessed as low to moderate and thus slightly negative. In this context, an imitation effect on the part of national park visitors who are not entitled to enter the Ennsufer is also seen as problematic and the resulting state of emergency of reasoning on the part of the national park administration.