Shrimps in the Danube. The unusual phenomenon was noticed by fishermen a year ago, but during this time their population increased, reports Nova TV.
„This is quite unusual. Old fishermen have never seen shrimps on the Danube River”, notes Teodor Todorov. The shrimps are an invasive species and most often fishermen found them feeding in the fish tank, where they store their catch. They were impressed that some fish that were previously found in the Danube were disappearing.
„The poplet population has decreased considerably. I assume it's due to the shrimp, because before we discovered their presence, the population of croakers was very large, and now we can't even catch them for bait," adds Todorov.
It turned out that this type of shrimp is cultivated for food and is freshwater. The assumptions are that they probably came from an artificial breeding ground. “The Bulgarian name for the species is East Asian river shrimp. According to literary data, it is concluded that grafts for their cultivation in controlled conditions were released into the Dnieper River”, notes the chief curator of the “Natural History Museum”-Plovdiv Kristiyan Vladov.
The shrimp adapted very well to new conditions. “It is active in winter as well. It calmly eats 5-6-7-centimeter fish, most likely it will also feed on caviar. When there is a foreign species in an ecosystem, it disrupts the balance,” says Vladov.
Fishermen are also concerned about the ecological balance in the Danube, and since shrimp are used as food, they are appealing to allow the use of fishing gear so that valuable river species are not lost.