Department of Fish Biology and Fisheries

The Department of Fish Biology and Fisheries is organized into six working groups:

• Unit of Coastal Fisheries;
• Unit of Pelagic Fishes;
• Unit of Salmon and Trout;
• Unit of Lake Peipsi Fisheries;
• Unit of Ocean Fisheries;
• Fisheries Information Unit.

Every year, the Department of Fish Biology and Fisheries conducts comprehensive fish stock monitoring in inland waters (Lake Peipsi), the Baltic Sea (including Baltic herring, cod, and Sprattus sprattus balticus), and the Atlantic Ocean, where department personnel serve as commercial fishing observers. In addition to applied research financed by the Ministry of the Environment, the Department undertakes studies commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture and funded by the European Fisheries Fund. Examples include analyses of conflicts between seals and fishermen and the development of mitigation strategies, as well as studies of fish spawning and the enhancement of spawning conditions using various artificial substrates.

As part of its role in education, the Department also conducts fundamental research involving University of Tartu students. Research topics include otolith microchemistry for studying migratory patterns of fish, adaptations of freshwater species to the Baltic Sea environment, reproductive strategies of salmonids, and year-round dynamics of fish fauna in the littoral zone.