Case study: Klaipėda region, Lithuania

The case study area is divided in three sub-cases, providing a large variety of offers for coastal anglers. Introducing sustainable development to the coastal angling tourism sector can provide even greater benefits on the long run.

Location of study sites: The Lithuanian Baltic Sea along the coastline can be up to 20 metres deep. In the northern part of the study area the seabed is mainly composed out of rocks in combination with sand. The southern part has a more homogenous sand-dominated seabed structure. The northern part of the study area is under strong influence of a freshwater flow from the Curonian Lagoon towards the Baltic Sea.

The Curonian Lagoon is a freshwater lagoon of the southeastern part of the Baltic Sea with a basin of a straight triangle. The narrow Curonian Spit separates the Lagoon from the Baltic Sea. The length of the coastline of the Lagoon in Lithuanian territory is about 413 km². The rest of the Lagoon is located in the territory of the Russian Federation. The lagoon is very shallow with an average depth of 3.8 metres. The northernmost part of the Curonian Lagoon, which is up to 14 metres deep and just 0.4 km width, has been strongly transformed by industrial activities.

The Nemunas River provides the main water inflow into the Curonian lagoon, which discharges to the Baltic Sea. The Nemunas Delta with a maze of river branches, canals, polders and wetlands is protected as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar convention and as a regional park. The delta is highly important for the migrating and breeding fish and birds.

Target fish species:

• Lithuanian Baltic Sea: cod, salmon, Baltic herring, round goby, flounder, garfish, brown trout, smelt and turbot.
• Curonian Lagoon: perch, roach, smelt, pikeperch, bream, burbot, pike, prussian carp.
• Lower reaches of Nemunas: bream, roach, perch, pike, silver bream, pikeperch, rudd, tench, chub, vimba, smelt, burbot, catfish, asp, very rarely – salmon and brown trout.

Main angling season: The main angling season differs according to fish species, but also depends on the region within the case study area. Thus, the study area provides all year round angling opportunities.

Kinds of angling: Klaipéda region offers a variety of angling methods reaching from spin fishing, trolling, float fishing, ledgering and fishing with floating handlines from the boat to methods of shore fishing, such as spin fishing, fly fishing and float fishing. One can also go ice fishing in the winter using angling spoons/flies, fishing jigs or mugs (tip up fishing).

Target group (customers): The customers of coastal angling in the Klaipéda region are residents and tourists who are travelling for angling purpose or are visiting the area for other reasons, but make use of angling as one of their leisure activities. The region attracts anglers of all ages (main target group: 14 to 65 years old).

Available infrastructure: Tourism information centers, common accommodation, restaurants, recreational fishing services, boat rentals, recreational fishing providers, angling shops and fishing guides

Development of angling tourism: In the past the study area was well-known for its fisherman villages and agriculture. Nowadays the hospitality business rules the area. Nevertheless, due to the lack of data, the development of coastal angling tourism in the study area was not recorded.