The Dniester/Nistru River is a transboundary watercourse shared by Moldova and Ukraine. Currently its management is regulated according to the bilateral Dniester Treaty (Rome, 2012), which covers all issues of water use, including water biodiversity resources and aquatic ecosystems conservation. The Dniester fish resources suffered with hydropower and deterioration of the river morphology substantially diminished the spawning areas. The commercial fishery was applied during last 70 years, and only recently – from 2016, was prohibited in Moldovan sector of the river. Ukraine is still not rejected from this activity. The scope of current evaluation was to determine the impact of the amateur fishery on the fish resources of the Lower Dniester – the part of the river downstream from the Dubasari Hydropower Plant (HPP). In fact, the Lower Dniester River sector is managing by Moldova (right bank), its secessionist Transnistrian region (left bank), and the lower part including the estuary – by Ukraine. The number of amateur fishermen has raised significantly during last decades.
The impact of recreational fishing on fish stocks was assessed on the Dniester mainstream section from the Dubasari hydropower plant to the mouth on both banks, including its branches, by counting the fishermen per unit length of the coast in areas with extrapolation of average values to other similar sites. The groups of experts of the right bank (Institute of Zoology & Eco-TIRAS NGO), the left bank (Transnistrian State University) and the Lower Dniester National Natural Park (Odessa region) participated in the accounting. The NGO Eco-TIRAS (Chisinau) coordinated the activities.
In the summer period in Moldova (both banks) 144.9 tons of fish were caught, in Ukraine - 118 tons, then in the autumn period in the upper Moldovan area, including Transnistria, - 19.2 t., and in the Ukrainian - 232.6 t. In total, during summer and autumn there were catched by anglers more than 500 tons, but in spring – 33.1 tons.
It means that amateur fishing in this part of the Dniester basin has serious impact on fish resources due to the significant number of anglers, their use of modern gear and baits, and is not only comparable to the commercial one, but also surpasses it in some areas. At the same time Moldovan experts note that the greatest damage to the fish resources of the Dniester River is achieved by poaching gears, and not regulated ones. Under the guise of “amateur” fishing, such forbidden methods and fishing tools are often used as docking in places of concentration of fish, setting seine with multiple hooks, screens, etc. This is facilitating by extremely weak control by the state authorized bodies, which in recent years has been further weakened by the restructuring. The main species of amateur fishermen catches by weight were presented by crucian carp, roach, bream and common carp. The remaining species: pikeperch, pike, and rudd were also recorded. In fact, recreational fishing in the Lower Dniester is practically not controlled by the fisheries protection agencies, and the regulatory framework that regulates it is outdated and requires significant revision. Anglers in the Lower Dniester in fact do not use the “catch-release” approach, while the volumes of fish caught often violate the requirements of the Rules for amateur fishing.
The transboundary status of the river requires the development of uniform rules for angling for this region. It is advisable to consider the inclusion of mandatory fees for the use of fish resources in the rules of amateur and sport fishing in Ukraine and in Transnistria by introducing permits for amateur and sport fishing. The funds obtained from this should be transferred to environmental or special funds and used only for stocking the Dniester River with native fish species.