Historical occurrence and extinction of Atlantic salmon in the River Elbe from fourteenth to the twentieth centuries
Abstract
Complete data about Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L., Pisces, Salmoniformes) and its occurrence, biological and historical background in the Elbe river basin (Europe, North Sea drainage area) with special respect of the Bohemian territory (Central Europe) during the period from the 14th to 20th century are summarized in this paper. Historical methods of salmon fishing in the Central Europe and historical legal protection of the salmon in Bohemia are presented.
The salmon is a model example of species which due to anthropogenic changes in the landscape and rivers in some water systems completely disappeared in the past. The synergy reasons of human activities leading to total vanishing of Atlantic salmon in the Elbe river basin (modification of the stream bed, construction of a system of dams and other migration barriers, pollution of water, fishing) in the past are discussed.
The last sporadic migrating native salmons were registered in the Bohemian section of the Elbe river basin in the middle of the 20th century.