HUNGARY
PRESENT STATE AND PROBLEMS OF RECREATIONAL FISHERY

K. PINTER

Földmüvelésügyi Minisztérium, Kossuth L. tér 11, H 1055 Budapest, Hungary

Introduction

Sport fishing is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in Hungary. The data in Table 1 show the number of sport fishermen to have grown rapidly between 1965 and 1980 during the period of relative increase in living standards and leisure time. A more moderate increase was recorded throughout the 1980s and by 1990 the number of sport fishermen reached its maximum of 396 100 yearly licence holders, equivalent to 3.6 percent of the population. Since then there has been a slow decrease in numbers.

Hungarian natural waters and reservoirs have a total area of 143 000 ha only, about 3 000 ha of which are closed to anglers. The registered recreational catch amounts to 4 698 t which means that 19.2 percent of the fish consumed in the country originated from the sport fishery. There is good evidence that the registered catch only represents half of what is actually taken thus the contribution of the sector to total fish supply is even greater than is immediately apparent.

Despite the weakness of the official statistics with regard to total catch the relative catches by species and by year are still useful as an indication of trends in national surveys and even as a tool in management. For example a comparison of the relative ranking of captures by species (Table 3) from 1971 and 1994 leads to the conclusion that the contribution to total catches by species which form part of stocking programmes such as grass carp and common carp rise as the number of fishermen grows. This indicates a close relationship between pond farming and recreational fisheries.

A further example demonstrates how the exploitation of Lake Balaton is partitioned between recreational and commercial fishermen. Here it can be concluded that the commercial fisheries regulate stocks under a subsidy provided by the eel fishery. In Hungary the intimate relationship between the various subsectors of inland fisheries means that recreational fisheries should be reviewed together with aquaculture and commercial fisheries

The Present Status of Hungarian Fisheries

Political and economic changes in Hungary have had an impact on fisheries although to a lesser degree than on other agricultural sectors. The decline in both aquaculture and inland fisheries over the last few years is clear. The reasons for the decline in aquaculture are as follows:

• Ponds were operated by large, state agricultural companies where fish production was a minor component of the total output. Because of this profits from fish production were used to subsidize losses by other activities. As a consequence little money was reinvested in aquaculture and the maintenance of ponds and equipment lapsed.

• There has been an extreme shortage of water over the last few years and supplies have only been sufficient to permit low intensity production. Ponds have been operating with only half their required volume of water particularly in the more productive western half of the country. Low water levels led to early harvesting to prevent mortalities and to greatly increased predation by birds.

• Producers have been trying to limit the effects of the rise in prices of inputs with the result that farming is becoming progressively less intensive. Lower stocking, feeding and fertilization rates are being used.

• The loss of traditional markets - the Near East in the late 1970s and the COMECON countries in the 1980s - has limited the production of chinese carps to the very modest level of the domestic market.

Production from natural waters has also declined for the following reasons:

• A proportion of the water bodies previously intensively managed for commercial fisheries have been redesignated for recreational use.

• Less rigorous controls on the fishermen allows them to sell larger quantities of unregistered fish through unofficial channels.

• The marketing of low-value species such as bream, roach, silver carp and crucian carp continues to be difficult. This is particularly evident around Lake Balaton where the State Fisheries company limited catch of these species to levels below the sustainable yield.

• The proportion of unregistered catches is growing rapidly in the recreational sector. At present only members of the Hungarian National Anglers' Union are obliged to report their catches. Catches by foreign anglers, children and of anglers with limited permits for the holiday season are neither registered nor estimated.

The declining catch statistics do not necessarily reflect a real deterioration in the fishery. Although economic data are not available it is apparent that most fisheries, and especially aquaculture, have retained their profitability even under the changed economic circumstances.

Privatization of pond farms

Privatization of state owned pond farms started in 1992 but has proved a slow and difficult process. State ownership will be maintained for the warmwater fish hatchery at Szazhalombatta and the pond units producing stocking material for Lake Balaton. All other fish farms have been offered for sale to Hungarian or foreign investors although privatization has not yet been completed.

There is no interest on the part of foreign investors and the existing farms are too large and expensive for national entrepreneurs. An alternative solution, the sale of farms to the managers and staff of the farms is being advocated. While advantageous in the sense that existing expertise is maintained this solution poses severe financial strains on the purchasers.

Restructuring and privatization of agricultural and capture fishery cooperatives were completed in 1993 with a transfer of cooperative assets to private owners. This process has proved more difficult with pond farms and only a fewer smaller units have been bought by private individuals. These units may not prove profitable as production farms and will probably be converted to recreational put-and-take fisheries within a few years.

Changes in fisheries legislation

There has been discussion as to the need for a new fisheries act from as early as 1988 but the Decree No. 30 of 1977 is still in force. This specifies that the right to fish is under State control except for a few small ponds on private land. The State transfers this right to appropriate users. Only State owned companies, agricultural and fisheries cooperatives, and the Hungarian National Anglers' Union had the right to acquire fishing rights on natural waters and reservoirs.

Since the first of January 1993 this restriction has been removed and private entrepreneurs, limited liability companies and independent angling associations have the same rights. This has led to a slow restructuring in the utilization of inland waters for fisheries.

A further modification to the decree has changed the system for granting recreational fisheries licences. Before 1993 anglers had to request their licences from the Hungarian National Anglers' Union and to seek local permission from the users of a specific water body. The Union and the State divided the licence fees. Under the new regulations State licences are issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and are sold in part by agencies of the Ministry and part through contracted organizations, angling authorities and tourist offices. The payments received are deposited in a fund for fisheries management which also receives the moderate fees paid by organizations for fishing rights. This fund is now worth HUF 80–90 million per year as compared to 3.5 million in 1992. The fund is open to all holders of fishing rights as well as other organizations involved in the management of inland waters such as commercial fishermen, research institutes, schools, nature protection societies and fish hatcheries. Requests for funding are reviewed by a professional Board twice a year. The Minister of Agriculture decides on an allocation on the basis of the Board's recommendations and all decisions are published in the fisheries quarterly “Halászat”.

Other modifications to fisheries legislation originate from recent changes in laws regulating associations. According to this membership of the individual in an Anglers' Association and membership of the Association itself in the Hungarian National Anglers' Union has to be declared voluntary. At present there are few individual angler and independent Angling Associations but their numbers will certainly increase in the near future.

One consequence of the change in association membership and the new system for licensing is the change in the system for reporting. Previously anglers had to keep diaries as a condition of the State licence. These were collected by the Union at the end of the year. Since 1994 reporting is no longer obligatory. Diaries might be required by the owner of fishing rights for a given water body as part of the permission to fish. This might improve the information available to local managers but creates difficulties in obtaining data at national level.

Outlook

Pond farming has a very well defined place in the Hungarian economy. Further development of the sector is anticipated for the end of the century when farms created during the current reorganization of the economy will be completely renovated. Common carp will remain the dominant species because of its traditional market both for consumption and for recreational fisheries.

The future of the capture fishery depends largely on the new Fisheries Act which should be passed in 1996. It is however thought that the capture fishery will decline over the next few years leaving two main types of fishery - i) enhance fisheries based on regular stocking and ii) semi-recreational fisheries for domestic consumption in the rivers.

The new Act should also solve the problem of fishing rights in small water bodies. During the transition period the land on which many of these water bodies were located became private property. Under the new decree and in accordance with the preliminary principle of the new Act the fishing rights in such waters should belong to the owner of the land. Hitherto the sport fishing organizations have benefited by the state ownership of such water bodies and will now have to negotiate agreements with the new owners. Larger water bodies and rivers will remain state property so the former agreements will still be retained.

Even an ideal Act will not be able to solve all the problems facing the recreational fishery and a long period of adjustment is anticipated. Beside the legal issues the development of recreational fisheries in Hungary during the next decade will be influenced by the following considerations:

• increasing cost of travel and accommodation

• increasing cost of access to fishing waters

• limitation of the recreational fishery in some waters for conservation reasons.

As a result the recreational fishery is expected to develop in two directions:

• Environmental fishing in large waters relying on natural fish populations ensuring moderate catches and low costs

• Put-and-take fisheries in fish ponds and gravel pits for anglers in better financial positions.

Table 1 Number of Sport Fishermen in Hungary

Table 2 Statistical Data on Hungarian Fisheries

Table 3 Composition of Anglers' Catches

Table 4 Share of Recreational and Commercial Catches in Lake Balaton in 1994