Relative abundance, size structure and condition of northern pike (Esox lucius) in Rügen's lagoons and associated freshwater streams - spawning season of 2020

Within the Boddenhecht-project over February and March 2020, a total number of 696 pikes were caught by own sampling and assisted by local fisherman over different lagoons around Rügen. The pikes were marked with external taggs and some with transmitters to gain knowledge about migration of the pikes. Within an internship-module the author analysed the size-structure, relative abundance and condition of the populations. The mean length ± SE of all caught pikes was 724 ± 4 mm but varied over lagoons e.g. between freshwater-spawning-habitats and brackish spawning habitats. The relative abundance indexed by CPUE was different among sites. It is likely that larger freshwater streams around Rügen are hotspots of pike activity during the spawning season. The results also showed smaller pikes to prefer freshwater streams while bigger pikes were more present in brackish waters for example Barther Bodden. The condition of pikes was recorded as different by statistical testing, but visual interpretation of graphs would likely suggest no noticeable difference in condition of pikes observed in the wild and was stated as well.