The press release article can be found here.
The brackish lagoons around the German island of Rügen in the southern Baltic Sea are known as outstanding fishing areas, especially for large pike. However, pike catches and catch sizes have been declining for several years. There are many reasons for this: loss of spawning grounds, decline in nutrients, increased natural mortality due to cormorants and other natural predators, climate change and overfishing. A recent study by the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU) now shows that recreational fishing also has an impact on the Bodden pike: There are fewer pike in areas with intensive recreational angling than in protected areas where there is little or no angling. Another effect is that the pike are becoming increasingly difficult to hook and are thus becoming lure shy. However, it will take more than just better fisheries management to rebuild the stock of pike in the Bodden lagoons.