Following the recommendations of the International Consultation on Fishery Resources Allocation (Vichy, France, 1980) and its own discussions during its Eleventh Session (Stavanger, Norway, May 1980), EIFAC felt that subsequent sessions should examine closely the current situation for managing stocks of fish in European inland waters. Because the whole topic of management is too large for coverage during any one symposium, it was recommended by the Commission that the subject be covered in two symposia - one on biotic aspects of management to be held in conjunction with the Twelfth Session of EIFAC and one on abiotic aspects to be held with the Thirteenth Session of EIFAC.
There has been a long-standing concern with the effects of introductions of exotic species into European rivers and lakes. Furthermore, whilst stocking with native or introduced species is common management practice, there is very little evidence for or against its biological or economic effectiveness. Therefore, the first Symposium on management addressed the twin problems of introductions and stockings in an effort to define guidelines for both practices in European waters.
The Symposium considered these two specific aspects of stock manipulation in seven sessions as follows:
| Session 1 | Stocking with non-salmonids |
| Session 2 | Stocking with brown trout |
| Session 3 | Stocking with salmon |
| Session 4 | Introductions and transplantations - case histories and experience with some species |
| Session 5 | Introductions - country reviews and Lake Kinneret case |
| Session 6 | Introductions - ecological and practical aspects |
| Session 7 | Summary, conclusions and recommendations |
The body of this report consists of the reviews presented at each of the sessions together with any discussions arising. The papers referred to by numerical key in the text are those presented at the Symposium and relevant to the session which are listed in Appendix I and will be printed separately in the Proceedings of the Symposium. Any additional references are listed at the end of the relevant session.
