Utilization

Abstract

The huchen may by considered one of the most valuable species of freshwater fishes. It is highly appreciated by anglers as a trophy species which offers unusual fishing experience (Pl. 14); in a broader aspect, the huchen is of importance as a very effective and, in many places, the only biological ameliorator of submontane streams. This was suggested by Kulmatycki (1931a, b) and Ivaška (1951) who pointed out that with its rapid growth, the huchen improves the value of less valuable coarse fishes. In spite of the fact that the range of the huchen has decreased in comparison with that in the past and that even its numbers have dropped substantially, its importance has increased rather than decreased, as indicated by the increased interest in huchen farming, e.g., in Austria (according to Jungwirth in litt.). In Austria, 20–25 hatcheries are engaged in rearing huchen at present, although huchen eggs and young were still imported into Austria from Yugoslavia or Czechoslovakia in the early seventies. Interest in the huchen is also shown by anglers, whose numbers are rising continually, interest in the huchen being shown even in such countries where it has never occurred (Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Canada, Morocco, Spain, Sweden); this is also evidenced by the export of fertilized huchen eggs into these countries from Czechoslovakia, amounting to 150–200 thousand annually (Budaj 1976). While the aspect of sport angling is the predominant one at present, attention should also be paid to the bio-amelioration importance of the huchen.