engleski

Monitoring of non-indigenous fish species in the Croatian eastern Adriatic Sea

In the framework of Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) European Union Member States (MS) monitor the environmental status of marine waters. In this context, non- indigenous species (NIS) represent one of the descriptors (D2) for determining and achieving Good Environmental Status (GES) and each member country is obliged to establish a monitoring programme to collect data to assess progress towards achieving GES. With the aim of early detection of NIS species, number of their new introductions is set as a primary criterion for this descriptor. Here we report the inventory of NIS for fish species for which the initial assessment in the Croatian Adriatic, under the MSFD monitoring programme, begun in 2016. To increase and supplement the scale of monitoring, methods utilized to record fish NIS include: analyses of experimental and commercial fisheries catches, in situ visual census samplings and citizen science observations. In the last 6 years (2016– 2021), 4 non-indigenous species have been recorded: Siganus luridus, Abudefduf sp., Bregmaceros nectabanus and Pterois miles. With exception of Siganus luridus, all other species have been recorded for the first time in Croatian waters. Southern and middle part of the Adriatic are locations of all the introductions, while natural spread via Suez Canal corridor and shipping are suspected to be the most likely potential pathways of introduction.

alien fish species ; Croatia ; monitoring

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