As of Monday, April 20, 2026, activities related to education, eradication of alien and invasive alien fish species, and monitoring of target fish species will commence within the framework of the ReFresh Fish LIFE project.
Planned eradication activities include the removal of the following alien and invasive alien fish species: pike, European perch, grass carp, tench, topmouth gudgeon (stone moroko), Prussian carp, common carp, black bullhead, pumpkinseed, and eastern mosquitofish. These activities will be carried out in the Krka, Čikola, Vrba, and Cetina Rivers, as well as at Miloševo and Stipančevo Lakes.
The project areas represent key areas of the Natura 2000 and are the only locations in the world where three of the project’s target freshwater fish species occur and where a substantial portion of the global populations of two additional endangered species can be found. The project focuses on the conservation of the following five endangered and endemic freshwater fish species:
- Visovac goby (Knipowitschia mrakovcici)
- Dalmatian minnow (Phoxinellus dalmaticus)
- Dalmatian barbelgudgeon (Aulopyge huegelii)
- Tursky’s dace (Telestes turskyi)
- Dinaric minnow (Phoxinellus alepidotus)
The primary objective of the eradication activities is to protect these native target species, which are under significant pressure from alien and invasive alien species, pollution, hydrological alterations, habitat fragmentation, and insufficient knowledge of their ecological requirements.
As part of the eradication and monitoring of native fish species activities, training in selective fishing methods will be provided to local fishermen from the Krka National Park area. Upon completion of the training, participants will receive a certificate authorising them to carry out the permanent removal of alien and invasive alien fish species within the project’s watercourses.
The activities are led by ichthyologists from the Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. In addition to sport fishing associations, staff from several public institutions are involved in implementation, including the Krka National Park Public Institution, the Public Institution for the Management of Protected Areas in the Split‑Dalmatia County “Sea and Karst”, and the Public Institution “Nature” of the Šibenik‑Knin County.